Architecture Commons^™

Re (Civic) Function The Cultural Value Of L’ Aquila, Ogechi Nwoko

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

I want to start by exploring with you the meaning of you these numbers. From 2000 to 2012 natural disasters have caused 1.7 trillion dollars in damage and affected 2.9 billion people. Nearly 50% of the fatalities caused by natural disasters were due to flooding or earthquakes events. If we also look at the regions affected, these are usually facing social, cultural and environmental difficulties; therefore, the process of recovery of the communities in most of the time is slowly effective or unsuccessful. In order to face better future calamities, this research aims to analyze the displacing effect of the …

Infrastructural Urbanism: Hybridizing Our Networks, Hannah Boyd

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

“The story of people can be told through our infrastructure. In the rise and fall of cities throughout history, the places best positioned for a thriving future have always been those that offer systems to create the lives that we want. And we can see that as the innovations of canals, aqueducts, railroads, and highways did in their time, the kind of infrastructure that we build today matters to our success. If we do it right, it will forever transform our way of life.”
– Ryan Gravel¹

Urban edges are created through interstices, spaces intervening between one thing and …

Constructed Reality: A Study In Spatial Perception Through Virtual Reality, Jose P. Rodriguez

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Architecture often begins explorations that lead into various modes of end products. These modes of production and representation could often embed traces that shape the outcome of the design. In his book, “Architectural Representation and The Perspective Hinge.”, Alberto Perez Gomez says that “Architects do not produce Buildings but instead produce images of buildings.” These representational images are an expression of an idea or design. Historically, representation began in static two-dimensions. By bridging into digital environments, these representations become more dynamic. As computing power increases and software broadens, the use of virtual reality environments and immersion simulations are becoming more …

On Craft, William Lentjes

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Craft is a relationship - a dialogue - between craftsman, tool, and material. Craft begins with the intent of all of these loci, and all of these loci are rooted in Being.

Being is known through the consciousness, awareness, and perception of a subject. Being is the inherent existence and totality of "what is."

Being crafts us; Craft imbues Being.

This thesis re-examines the pedagogical approach of an architectural education. The focus is placed on craft through presuppositionless phenomenology.

In an age of endless mechanized production and spiritless materialism, the practice of craft can teach us to return to the …

Memento Memoriam: Reconciling Death, Society, And The Environment, Damari Weaver

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The increase in population, rising cost of funeral expenses, and environmental “permanence” of cemeteries has increased the burden of modern American burial practices. In order to reconcile the various environmental, financial and psychological challenges of death, the architecture of death-related practices must propose sustainable alternatives of honoring and “housing” the dead. It must create a supportive environment that assists in the mourning experience and helps foster thoughts of remembrance, and goes beyond the physical function of a cemetery, or a crematorium, or a columbarium, by focusing on architecture's subliminal nature to heal, orient, and evoke.

The Collective Object: Realizing Collective Space In An Era Of Bigness, Laura M. Sherman

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Architecture reacted to the Technological Revolution of the late 19th century with inspired proposals of optimistic expectation for the new era. The advancements of elevators, escalators and air conditioning meant almost limitless potential for the scale and scope of the built environment. However, society quickly realized the advantageous reality of this technology: Their buildings no longer needed the cities which surrounded them.

Endless interiors and “cities-within-cities” meant the possibility of a lifestyle where people could choose to never again interact with the undesirables of the true city. The built environment actively resisted the collective. A trend of self-interested architectures affected …

Learning Is Diverse: The Dynamics Of Change, Catherine G. Harter

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Educational models of the 20th century in the United States responded directly to the then current economic circumstances and workforce needs. Schools throughout the United States were designed on those educational models of production and efficiently. While educational models have since changed in response to societal shifts, now emphasizing flexibility, diversity, and the integration of technology, the design of school infrastructure has not made that leap. By reconceptualizing the boundaries between elements and opening existing structure schools can be redesigned to align with the new educational model. This creates collaboration between different levels of expertise, the exploration of relationships between …

Intelligible Hospitals ( Understanding The Parts = Understanding The Whole), Giovonni C. Reese

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Healthcare complexes exemplify many features of complex buildings since they expand over time to accommodate growth and the ever increasing specialization of branches of clinical medicine. We understand and use buildings by moving through them. Especially in hospital complexes, intelligibility of movement is critical for the functioning and the interfacing among patients, visitors and healthcare professionals. This thesis focuses on the redesign of the circulation system in Piedmont Hospital complex in Atlanta GA, which has expanded over the years into a sprawling complex labyrinth of pavilions. In 1957, Piedmont started on Peachtree street with just one central building. A series …

Living Space : Client - Based Design For Assisted Living, Michael K. Adams

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Designing an assisted living facility with the client in mind. This project aims to create a space which encourages growth and progression for its residents by focusing on community, access to nature, sunlight, open spaces, increased living space, and flex spaces.

By working with the existing community and by emphasizing a program which focuses on the physical and mental needs of the residents, this building seeks to inspire and allow the residents to pursue their passions a manner that honors who they are and what they require.