Architecture Commons^™

Diagnosis Of Covid-19 Impact On The Construction Employment: Decline And Recovery, Anil Baral, Abdullah Alnuaimi, Yunping Liang, Baabak Ashuri, Mohsen S. Shahandashti

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) had an unprecedented impact on U.S. construction employment. The assessment of employment declines and recoveries across various construction sectors, workforce demographics, and geographic regions helps develop inclusive long-term plans to overcome the setbacks of natural hazards, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Existing methods for quantifying the employment decline from sudden shocks do not consider trends and seasonality of construction employment under normal conditions. Hence, it is not clear whether the employment declines are due to the impact of a disaster or associated with trends and seasonal patterns of employment. The objective of this research is …

Measuring Urban Space: A Spatial Framework For Transit Stop Siting, Michael R. Leiting

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Urban investment projects, particularly those related to transit infrastructure, are often evaluated through quantitative metrics that emphasize economic output, proximity, and development potential. While these measures provide useful benchmarks, they offer limited insight into the spatial conditions that shape how environments are structured, navigated, and occupied at the human scale. As a result, sites that appear comparable through conventional metrics may produce fundamentally different spatial experiences.

This thesis develops a drawing-based framework for evaluating spatial conditions across multiple urban sites. Four primary conditions, Urban Form, Threshold, Mobility, and Public Realm, are analyzed through standardized drawings and translated into corresponding indices. …

After Antiquity: Between Preservation And Disappearance, Elizabeth Pernicek

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

This thesis investigates how architectural remnants evolve from sacred or civic monuments into global spectacles and how these transformations reveal the relationship between architecture, power (be it political or otherwise), and cultural memory and significance. Through studying cycles of sacredness, destruction, and spectacle, this thesis explores architecture’s role as a living record of cultural transformation.

This thesis proposes that architectural remnants do not passively exist after their moment of rupture, but are actively shaped through systems of preservation, authority, and cultural framing. While remnants appear to operate as historical artifacts, they are in fact continuously rewritten through intervention, restoration, and …

Real-Time Adaptable Residential Kitchen: A Plug-In Standard, Rachel Fuelberth

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

This thesis looks at how a real-time adaptable standard could be put in place within the modern kitchen to allow for equitable use of the space by numerous members of the household and their differing physical characteristics. The residential kitchen is a fundamentally exclusionary architectural construction designed around able-bodied, average-height adults. This excludes children, the elderly, anyone outside of the average height, and people with mobility differences. The kitchen has never been a place of equity. It has been designed to be used by an average-height female, and it does not account for the discomfort of those outside this norm. …

From The Pit, Joshua C. Goering

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

Clay retains histories; the memory of each action it experiences is depicted on its surface and in its form.  I am a potter focused on making objects that capture these moments. Pinching, scraping, trimming, throwing, and carving expose tooth and excavate form, revealing the qualities of the material and showing the marks of handwork. As a potter, I am interested in participating in a history of vessel making and understanding making through an interpretation of the historic object. The work acts as an archive, accumulating information about process, materials, and a greater context of elder objects. Integrating these vocabularies creates …

Actas Seleccionadas Del Simposio Arte 4.2: Migraciones En La Imagen Prehispánica: Transitando Territorios Del Pasado Al Presente. 58º Congreso Internacional De Americanistas, Novi Sad, Serbia, 2025, Victòria Solanilla Demestre, Annabel Villalonga Gordaliza

Zea E-Books Collection

El presente volumen reúne una selección de contribuciones derivadas del simposio «Migraciones en la imagen prehispánica: transitando territorios», coordinado en el marco del 58º Congreso Internacional de Americanistas (ICA58). Nuestro simposio propuso detenerse ante un fenómeno a la vez antiguo y vigente: la travesía de las imágenes. Imágenes nacidas en la América prehispánica que, a lo largo del tiempo, atravesaron paisajes, rutas y memorias para (re)aparecer en territorios distintos de aquellos que las vieron surgir. Cada autor, desde su propio territorio intelectual, contribuye a desentrañar los movimientos, apropiaciones y metamorfosis que experimentaron las imágenes amerindias al viajar de una sociedad …

Tallina Linnahall: Arquitectura Soviética Y Mundo Prehispánico, Isabel Bargallo, Montserrat Bargalló Sánchez

Actas seleccionadas del SIMPOSIO ARTE 4.2: Migraciones en la imagen prehispánica: transitando territorios del pasado al presente. 58º Congreso Internacional de Americanistas, Novi Sad, Serbia, 2025.

Existen construcciones que nos recuerdan morfológicamente aspectos de la arquitectura precolombina que no tienen, en principio, relación cultural alguna con el pasado mesoamericano y que no responden tampoco a la función que desempeñaban las construcciones originales, o quizás sí. Éste es, sin duda, el caso del Linnahall de Tallin, donde no podemos dejar de preguntarnos los motivos que llevaron a unos arquitectos europeos, específicamente a dos profesionales estonianos, a inspirarse en las formas prehispánicas para proyectar y construir un espacio monumental que formó parte de las instalaciones de los Juegos Olímpicos de Moscú (1980) en la capital de Estonia. ¿Podemos …

Las Representaciones Figurativas Del Sitio Arqueológico Cuidad Del Jaguar (Honduras): Espacio Sagrado, Conceptos Compartidos Y Diálogo Entre Mesoamérica Y La Zona Andina, Geydy Rodríguez Wood

Actas seleccionadas del SIMPOSIO ARTE 4.2: Migraciones en la imagen prehispánica: transitando territorios del pasado al presente. 58º Congreso Internacional de Americanistas, Novi Sad, Serbia, 2025.

El sitio arqueológico Ciudad del Jaguar-T1, se encuentra ubicado en el noroeste de Honduras. Pertenece al Área Intermedia, considerada zona de frontera y paso entre Mesoamérica y la Zona Andina. Esta ubicación facilitó que, durante la época prehispánica, fuese un sitio de migraciones e interacción constante entre culturas del norte y del sur del continente, que dio origen a una civilización hasta ahora desconocida, que se formó, desarrolló y tuvo una significativa producción artística. En el presente trabajo propongo el estudio y la lectura e interpretación de las imágenes figurativas representadas en los objetos excavados, como también su utilidad y …

Aves, Felinos Y Ofidios En Los Templos Montaña Amerindios, Sarai Ramos Muñoz

Actas seleccionadas del SIMPOSIO ARTE 4.2: Migraciones en la imagen prehispánica: transitando territorios del pasado al presente. 58º Congreso Internacional de Americanistas, Novi Sad, Serbia, 2025.

El siguiente estudio se centra en la comparación de las representaciones pictóricas de aves, felinos y ofidios de algunos de los principales Templos Montaña, tanto de la zona andina, como de Mesoamérica. Dentro de él se pueden apreciar las similitudes y diferencias arquitectónicas y escultóricas simbólicas de estas imágenes. El análisis comparativo se realiza a través de un estudio iconográfico e iconológico de la arquitectura escultórica de dichos templos y de cada una de las representaciones zoomorfas relacionadas con el concepto del Axis Mundi prehispánico, centrándose en el águila, el jaguar y la serpiente. Al mismo tiempo se analiza la …

Assessment Of Truck Parking Demand And Safety During Normal And Severe Weather Conditions In Nebraska, Nathan Huynh, Li Zhao, Zhenghong Tang, Aida Riahifar, Jahangeer Jahangeer

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

This project examined truck parking capacity, demand, and utilization patterns along I-80 in Nebraska. The objectives were to (1) document the capacity of public and private truck parking facilities along I-80, (2) analyze spatial and temporal trends in parking demand, (3) develop models to predict occupancy at parking facilities, (4) identify clusters of undesignated parking during inclement weather, and (5) assess whether truck parking shortages contribute to truck-involved crashes. Within a one-mile buffer of I-80, 21 public facilities and 49 private facilities were identified. The spatiotemporal analysis of these public and private truck parking facilities using the National Agriculture Imagery …

Transportation Practitioners' Reflections On Addressing Transportation Barriers For Vulnerable Populations In Nebraska, Aysan Esmaely

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

This study examines transportation planning practices and challenges in Nebraska, with particular attention to how planners and agencies address the needs of vulnerable populations. Using a qualitative approach, thirty-five transportation planners, practitioners, and service providers were interviewed. Participants were selected based on their professional in transportation planning and service delivery. The study explores what institutional and funding barriers planners and practitioners face, and what strategies they consider most effective for improving access and inclusion. Findings reveal that limited funding, fragmented authority, and the absence of a coordinated regional planning framework significantly constrain transportation development across Nebraska. While metropolitan areas such …

Bridging Conservation And Planning: State Wildlife Action Plans Analyzed Using Wildlife Value Orientation, Ciara Nelson-Forcade

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Wildlife conservation in the United States has transitioned from managing resources for human use to prioritizing ecosystem preservation and species protection. However, the ways in which conservation values and attitudes are reflected in state-level policy documents remain insufficiently examined. This thesis investigates how Wildlife Value Orientations (WVO) are expressed within State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs). Using a qualitative content analysis and flexible coding approach, fifteen SWAPs representing all eight U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regions were analyzed to identify conservation themes, value orientations, and structural characteristics such as plan length, departmental budgets, and political context. Findings reveal that most plans …

Evaluating The Preparedness Of Local Zoning Regulations For Flood Risk Reduction In The Most Affected Local Jurisdictions In Nebraska, Md Asaduzzaman Noor

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Flooding has profound social, economic, and environmental impacts on local communities, and zoning plays a critical role in mitigating these risks. The 2019 Nebraska floods, among the most severe in the state’s history, highlighted the urgent need to strengthen local preparedness and mitigation strategies. This study assesses the extent to which local zoning regulations in Nebraska’s most affected jurisdiction, including rural areas, address flood risk reduction. A systematic review of 117 zoning ordinances from counties, cities, towns, and villages, we applied a structured analytical framework encompassing regulatory and permitting policies, voluntary and incentive-based measures, and nature-based solutions. The results show …

Bridging Conservation And Disaster Recovery: A Dual Study On Wetland Program Plans Evaluation And Midwest Post Disaster Recovery Assessment, Rao Nargis Jahan

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Wetlands provide essential ecological, social, and economic benefits for our society. In the United States, states and tribes play crucial roles in wetland protection, restoration, and management. However, no research has systematically measured state-level wetland planning efforts towards national conservation goals. This study is the first to comprehensively evaluate how state-level Wetland Program Plans (WPPs) align with national missions, particularly the "no-net-loss" of wetlands goal. Our research assesses the EPA-approved state-level WPPs from 42 out of 50 states in the United States during the period from 2015 to 2024. Using a protocol of 30 indicators across five categories, this study …

Flood Resilience Through Working-Land Conservation: Assessment Of Wetland Inundation Dynamics Across Wrp, Wma, Wpa, Padus And Crp Lands In Nebraska (2018–2024), Pranjay Joshi

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

This study first confirms whether Nebraska’s wetlands are still functioning hydrologically in ways that reduce flood impacts. Wetlands are known to lessen flood damage by storing water, slowing runoff, and moderating peak flows, but these benefits depend on the wetlands’ ability to maintain inundation and saturation through time. Many wetlands across the state have undergone drainage, hydrologic alteration, or isolation from surrounding watersheds, raising uncertainty about their present-day functioning. Using seven years of Sentinel-2 imagery processed in Google Earth Engine, this research establishes a clear, long-term record of inundation patterns across thousands of wetland parcels. This analysis verifies which wetlands …

Large-Scale Experimental Study On The Impact Of Air Cleaning & Ventilation On Indoor Air Quality And Student Illness-Related Absenteeism, Daud Nosham

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This large-scale randomized experimental field study investigated the effect of portable air purifiers (PAPs) on classroom’s air quality and student’s illness related absenteeism. PAPs were installed in 317 classrooms from various school districts located in Eastern Nebraska. The classrooms were randomly assigned into four conditions: three treatment conditions (T1, T2 & T3) and one control condition (device without any filter). T1 was equipped with HEPA filters, T2 added Activated Carbon (AC) layer to HEPA, and T3 further integrated Germicidal Ultraviolet (GUV) alongside HEPA and AC filters. The measured variables were carbon dioxide (CO2), fine particles (PN2.5) and coarse particles (PNcoarse), …

Rapid State-Of-Health Estimation Of Batteries Using Machine Learning With Limited Eearly-Discharge Voltage Data, Mohammad Bakhtiari

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

The utilization of lithium-ion batteries has been rapidly expanding across diverse sectors, including electric transportation, stationary energy storage systems, and the built environment. Ensuring a high level of reliability in these applications is essential, as the performance and safety of such systems depend strongly on the accurate assessment of the battery’s State of Health (SOH). Conventional SOH estimation techniques—often based on complex electrochemical models or extensive laboratory testing—tend to require a large number of measurements, advanced instrumentation, and high computational cost. These factors make them impractical for large-scale deployment or real-time monitoring. This study introduces a simplified machine-learning-based approach for …

Art Teams Year 4 Annual (Ad Hoc) Report 2024-2025, Guy Trainin, Kimberley D'Adamo, Hyeonjin Yoon, Azadeh Hassani, Zohreh Tamimdari, Jiabin Lyu, Michael Nti Ababio, Sarah Trainin

Research and Evaluation in Education, Technology, Art, and Design

This report documents the fourth year of the Art TEAMS project, a multi-year professional learning initiative focused on arts-integrated, transdisciplinary teaching practices across Nebraska K-12 schools. During the 2024-2025 academic year, the project advanced work with its second cohort of educators while maintaining engagement with the first cohort to assess the sustainability of implementation. The second cohort brought increased diversity in art forms, including ceramics, digital media, and career and technical education, demonstrating the versatility of arts integration across curricula.

Year Four activities included delivering refined professional development courses grounded in emergent curriculum design, with significant curriculum modifications based on …

Planning For Solar Equity: Zoning And Land Use Strategies For Community Solar Gardens In Rural Minnesota, Mahmoud Othman

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

This project examines how land use planning and zoning can support equitable deployment of community solar gardens (CSGs) in rural Minnesota counties and townships. Although Minnesota is widely regarded as a policy leader in community solar, most solar arrays are concentrated in metropolitan areas with greater planning capacity and demand. By contrast, rural jurisdictions must navigate dispersed populations, limited staff, and competing agricultural land uses. Focusing on Clay, Stearns, and Chisago Counties, the study analyzes local ordinances and related land use policies to understand how community-scale solar is defined, sited, permitted, and decommissioned.

Solar regulations are systematically coded for key …

Resilience Of Interdependent Transportation And Healthcare Systems: A Simulation-Driven Framework Incorporating Social Equity And Facility Optimization, S. Yasaman Ahmadi

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The overarching goal of this dissertation is to develop an integrated, simulation-driven framework to assess and enhance the resilience of interdependent transportation and healthcare systems before, during, and after natural hazards. By examining how spatial disruptions, social vulnerability, operational constraints, and infrastructure interdependencies affect access to and functionality of hospitals, this research offers a multifaceted evaluation of system performance under stress. This dissertation examines the impact of natural hazards, particularly floods, on the interdependent transportation and healthcare systems. The proposed approach combines and advances GIS-based network analysis, graph-theoretical modeling, and discrete-event simulation to evaluate system performance under different scenarios. The …

Adaptation Planning To Mitigate Flood Risk: Bellevue, Nebraska As A Case Study, Michael Nti Ababio

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Flooding remains one of the most pressing natural hazards in the United States, with increasing frequency and intensity driven by climate change. This thesis explores the adaptation planning strategies employed to mitigate flood risks in Bellevue, Nebraska, a city significantly impacted by the 2019 floods in eastern Nebraska. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study combines quantitative analysis of flood vulnerability with a critical review of local planning policies using documents, zoning ordinances and institutional frameworks. Spatial analytical tools such as Global Moran’s I and Hot Spot Analysis (Getis-Ord Gi*) were used to detect clustering of inundated buildings during the 2019 …

Enhancing The Eden Alternative Model With Well Standards: A Case Study Analysis, Mariah Stoner

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

This thesis investigates the potential for improving the Eden Alternative Model, a person-centered approach to elder care that emphasizes creating a homelike environment and meaningful relationships, using WELL Standards, a building certification system focused on enhancing human health and well-being through improvements in environmental quality. Through a mixed-methods approach involving quantitative data analysis and qualitative case studies, this research examines how WELL Standards, which cover aspects such as air quality, water quality, lighting, and thermal comfort, can improve environmental quality and resident satisfaction within the Eden Alternative Model. This research introduces a tailored approach to elder care by combining these …

Stop Design: Rethinking The Approach To Public Transit's Architecture, Elizabeth M. Nielsen

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Public spaces are the foundation of our social health and wellbeing, but are often designed without considering the needs of the public, creating spaces that people do not feel encouraged to use. Just as public space design as a whole often falls short of serving the public, the same can be said for a subset of public space design, public transit stops. While they are public spaces created for the purpose of waiting, their design rarely reflects this.

Well-designed public transit stops are capable of both maintaining existing ridership and drawing in new riders. Most commonly, this design occurs at …

Considerations And Techniques For Producing Urban Tree Canopy Maps Using Freely Available And Accessible Methods, Hugh Reed Ellerman

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Urban forests are valued as green infrastructure for the variety of benefits they provide across ecological, social, public health, and economic domains. To understand the distribution of trees, maps are required. Many methods of mapping tree cover use expensive and data-intensive datasets such as hyperspectral and LiDAR imagery, making these methods inaccessible to municipal forest managers. Variations in the modelling approaches of existing, freely available methods are not addressed in sufficient enough detail to understand the trade-offs implicit in these variations. Further, characteristics of urban tree canopy mapping (high spatial resolution imagery, heterogeneous urban environments, the importance of the tree …

Quality Considerations In The Pedestrian Realm: Dead Space Intervention And Prevention, Alycia Ramage

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

What if every space deemed “unadmirable” was reimagined as a stage for community life? Efforts to find solutions to this question prompted a more complex question: how can new construction promote interaction between architecture and the pedestrian realm?

This thesis is conducted in three main parts: 1) understanding dead space, 2) reinventing dead spaces in existing conditions, and 3) creating a design handbook that works to minimize dead spaces in new design.

Using Lincoln, Nebraska as a case study, part one begins with observation- looking for spaces that could be deemed unadmirable by a pedestrian. Utilizing research and observation, the …

Mediated Dwelling: Reconstructing The Contemporary Home Space, Nicholas Carraher

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

As online social media platforms become dominant areas for self-expression, professional opportunity, and cultural exchange, the role of typical residential architecture in contemporary society is changing to meet the demands of this visually driven and performative culture. Social media’s emphasis on aesthetic appeal, shareability, and curated authenticity challenges traditional architectural paradigms that prioritize functionality, spatial quality, and privacy. This change coincides with the broader Western cultural shift in ideals and social dynamics of the contemporary user. The home space, a once-private refuge, has been redefined in the age of online social media, where physical space is endlessly curated to align …

Modeling Degradation In Li-Ion Batteries: Analyzing Single-Cell Degradation And Applying It To Customized Pack-Level, Mohannad Y. Alkhalil

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

The rapid expansion of lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery applications in areas such as electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy storage, and portable electronics has drawn attention to the need for improving their performance, safety, and longevity. As Li-ion batteries become essential across technologies, understanding degradation mechanisms is critical for optimizing design and ensuring reliable operation. This work provides a detailed overview of modeling degradation in Li-ion batteries, focusing on single-cell behavior and its implications for pack-level performance.

The PyBaMM (Python Battery Mathematical Modeling) package, an open-source battery simulation tool written in Python, is used for single-cell simulations. Liionpack, another Python-based library, is …

Crisis Response Hospital Physical Layout Considerations During Covid-19: A Framework For Surge Preparedness, Future Investigations, And Analysis, Golnoosh Abdolahzadeh

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

This thesis investigates the intersection of hospital design and operational performance during health emergencies, explicitly focusing on layout modifications in emergency departments. The study is structured around four key components. First, it explores hospitals' significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic through data collected from interviews with Nebraska hospital leaders. Second, the research introduces a surge-based conceptual framework to guide hospital responses during crisis events. Developed from empirical data, the framework highlights the importance of flexible spatial planning and information-driven decision-making. Third, the study focuses on hospital physical layout considerations, identifying features that either supported or hindered Nebraska hospital operations during …

Blueprints, Sara Alfieri

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

I am captivated by the relationship between ceramic vessels and architecturally-inspired structures. My goal is to create a variety of abstract compositions that are both visually stimulating and functionally engaging. Through the act of fitting, placing, and interacting with forms and surfaces, I explore the interplay between design, function, and accessibility. These interactions, in turn, invite a deeper exploration of how we navigate and experience space, both visually and physically.

The structures in my work serve as both tangible and conceptual support systems for my ceramic vessels. While the vessels can exist independently, their connection with the structures is revealing. …

Artificial Interiors, Alex Renbarger

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

Artificial Interiors is a series of intimately scaled paintings that depict dramatically lit domestic interiors. My limited yet saturated color palette creates a dark atmosphere that feels both strange and familiar, contributing to the unsettling ambiance of the domestic scenes. Their origins in Artificial Intelligence (AI) prompts further reinforce this effect. Each painting begins as a composite collage created with AI-generated images, iterative prompts, and Photoshop, in a process that creates fantasy spaces, detached from real ones, even as their elements - sofas, chairs, corners, stairs - suggest common expectations and experiences for domestic life in the U.S.

These digitally …