Architecture Commons^™

The Integration Of T.O.D. Principles In Relation To Built Form: Connecting Suburbia And Urbia, Kim Yen Banh

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Automobiles have been a growing part of our lives. We are left with the consequences of their effect on urban and suburban forms that are detrimental to human accessibility. Atlanta, deemed the poster child of urban sprawl, has made a major impact on neighboring cities, including Marietta, Georgia, which has a population of 60,687 (Data USA). Due to Marietta’s rapid urbanization and population density, the city will need to increase its accessibility and develop sustainable opportunities to meet residents’ needs.

As the city’s population grows and major universities such as Life University, Gwinnet College - Marietta Campus, and Kennesaw State …

Filling The Gaps, Sam Walden

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Urban fragmentation caused by The Interstate Highway System’s top-down integration into Atlanta’s urban fabric can be redeveloped into a hub of pedestrian use and connectivity. This project seeks to address urban fragmentation by reprogramming existing architectural infrastructure into a symbiotic system of adaptive reuse and new development capable of growing between selected nodes to reclaim the many void spaces left in the wake of The Interstate’s planning and construction. To avoid past failures, we must ask, How can Atlanta’s existing architectural, infrastructural, and cultural capital be redeveloped to convert the divisive urban condition of our city’s roadways into a connective …

Uni_Form Space: Exploring Environment Through Fashion+Architecture, Alanzo Price

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Henry Van de Velde advocated for the German concept, ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ which translates to ‘total work of art’. This concept became popular during the Art Nouveau Movement around the 1890s when architects began utilizing their knowledge of scale to design fashion and other everyday objects like silverware. Though this concept has produced intriguing designs, architects still shy away from design processes that seem ornamental assuming that they will not produce work that is ‘architectural’. The goal of this project is to create an architectural environment by curating designed elements that use a recognizable design language present in fashion and architecture. The …

Festive Space, John C. Goddard

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Atlanta struggles with a challenge for its citizens in the form of pedestrianism. Over time, the city’s infrastructure has morphed into one that encourages vehicular movement. This leads to a breakdown in the use of streets for pedestrians outside of their strictly desired destination. Eventually this compounds to encourage against socialization. Furthermore, citizens may be affected mentally and emotionally when they come in contact with people less frequently. The design idea of this thesis revolves around creating incidental spaces in people’s path of travel that encourage stopping and even socializing. Revitalization helps not only the pedestrian scene, but also with …

Asylum In America: Designing A Relief Center For Social Integration, Edgar Plascencia

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

On the east side of Atlanta, near Krog Street Tunnel, a Vacant Freight Container parking consisting of 70 acres divides local communities from one another. Also contributing to this divide in this part of the city is a major artery Dekalb Avenue as well as the major rail infrastructure that travels through Atlanta. Due to the Sites Elevated from the ground Concrete pad, this accentuates even more how this site is interrupting the local society in the area.

Since the area of this part of town is lively and flourishing thanks to markets, business, residency and the beltline activating the …

Alter[Native] Housing: Prefabricated Homes For Young People, Aayushi Patel

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Today young people cannot afford to buy a house that can sustain a lifestyle; one that is near their work, near a community, or near any leisure facilities. If there is housing they can afford, it is more than far removed from the city, where they have to travel over an hour to get to work, or their community, or leisure facilities. This thesis proposes prefabricated homes for young people that will allow them to build and grow a family within and develop long-lasting relationships to create a community for themselves.

Printing The Future, Wyatt Proudfoot

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Architecture is about the careful planning and design of physical space or spaces. Traditionally, an architect spends their time designing with pen and paper, and making physical models piece by piece to understand and develop their building. A workflow that starts in the physical space and ends in it.

Designers today have a large skill-set with digital tools. This large range caters to speed and efficiency. Schools make an effort to teach students these tools, and with increase accessibility of these tools, anyone can pick them up and learn. With such an importance on the digital tool-set in today’s industry, …

Building Unity; Design Framework For Inclusive New Urbanism, Chad Sharp

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The city of Atlanta has historically embraced isolated growth over integrated density, which has contributed to the city’s limited inventory of inclusive urban centers. This divisive approach to urban design has helped facilitate a city of extremes; with high regional concentrations of wealth and poverty. This phenomenon is worsened by the city’s inherently exclusive transportation network and isolated residential development patterns. As Atlanta continues to grow and densify, it is crucial to adopt planning and design models that prioritize high-density, mixed-use residential developments in equitable locations with easy access to public transportation. To account for the failures of property filtering …

Designing Home: Pedagogy Of Proportion + Geometry, Connor Joyce

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Architectural education has evolved through the years to conform within the contemporary styles of the eras. Classical styles are typically labeled as outdated. This causes traditional design and architectural history courses to be sidelined into the lecture-based methods rather than the typical studio setting. Studio courses are the prime section of education within architectural universities, and the studio environment fosters the development of contemporary designs, materials, and methods. This thesis project brings traditional, proportionate design back into the studio and hands-on instruction. With a focus on residential design, “Designing Home” outlines a proposed focus studio for upper-year architecture students interested …

Individual For Housing, Hayden Tyler Dill

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

According to the Pew Research Center, nearly half of the adults in America are unmarried and half of the population has no interest in joining the dating market. It’s a lonely tale for many, but humanity learns to adapt if we cannot overcome. Let us not make homes for individuals an afterthought. To help solve this problem, I propose to evolve an old typology focused on individuals living in a community setting.

The Metabolism movement focused on biological growth with an emphasis on modular and capsule designs. As Kisho Kurokawa says, architecture like cells is “part of a continuous natural …

Capturing The Atmosphere, Jan Wachenfeld

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

A large problem throughout the world right now is water scarcity. The aim of my proposal will be to help the inhabitants of Peru, by introducing alternative ways to collect, harvest and store water and using the collected water to help residential, industrial and agriculture sectors. There are currently efforts to harvest fog with moisture capturing systems implemented all throughout the world currently, but there is a lack of awareness of these technologies. The secondary aim of my proposal is to bring awareness to these passive systems that can inspire architects and can influence morphology of new cities and landscape, …

Essential Peak: Multi-Sensory Design Aimed To Reduce Stress, Simone Mckibben

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Adults in America have experienced the highest records of stress since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Individuals aged fifteen to forty-nine were polled to be more stressed out than the age groups above and below them. Dealing with decreasing stress levels in America poses a challenge as there are many factors that contribute to this stress which range from work, finances, poor relationships, low activity and lack of sleep. 78% of Americans on average feel stressed at least once a day per week. The top five American locations that have the most stressed out people are Cleveland, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, New …

Core Connections: Stitching Together The Heart Of Atlanta Through The Redevelopment Of Underground Atlanta., Amari Parrish

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The heart of Atlanta, a prosperous tourist destination brimming with life, has found itself containing areas that have been commercially cut off from inner-city connections in contradiction to being in a heavy transit area. Atlanta’s longstanding history of inhabiting smaller sub-cities inside a larger context that houses a constantly growing population has become overshadowed by traffic, underutilized spaces that create massive voids, and fragmentation which prevents the city’s unification. Core Connections focuses on creating a mixed-use development comprised of parking, retail, and office that reconnects the surrounding contents of Downtown Atlanta and repairs the area as the city’s core. Core …

Breaking The Stigma: Challenging The Mental Health Crisis Through A New Way Of Designing A Recovery Facility In Salt Lake City, Utah, Lindsey Denig

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Mental health is a highly stigmatized topic within today’s society. The mental health system in the United States has failed to consistently create safe and successful spaces for recovering patients with psychological disorders.

Facilities are often described as “inhumane” by patients in how they are designed. Patients have expressed that there is lack of safe, private spaces. The spaces that are considered “private” are solitary confinement wards with no windows or furniture. It is said that interior design is not a priority as well, with no colors or art on walls. Spaces are cold and dead feeling, which does not …

Archi-Comics, Timothy Gatto

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Humor in architecture is not at the forefront of architect’s minds, this comes from architects need to be deemed serious. This way of thinking is what has backed architects up into a corner banal and stagnant architecture. Architecture is the art of context, everything in architecture is referential. Humor is foundationally the exact same way, the incongruity theory makes humor possible by putting a concept into context with things and finding contradictions in the process, thus developing a joke. Each of these arts, humor and architecture, are that of context and when architecture is delivered like humor, it points out …

(Not) Knowing, Jared Friedman

Theses and Dissertations

Jared Friedman’s work creates monuments out of banal common objects. Through acrylic paintings on- Astroturf, burlap, canvas, and upholstery fabric- he explores the ambiguity of the unremarkable, such as the condenser coils on the back of a refrigerator. In, (Not) Knowing, he parses the difference between knowing and understanding.

124 Notebooks, Andrea Lerner

Theses and Dissertations

124 Notebooks is a documentary about Brazilian architect and urbanist Jaime Lerner.

In 2010, two Brazilians were included in the TIMES Magazine list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, the ex and now re-elected president, Luiz Inacio da Silva, known as Lula, and the Architect and Urbanist Jaime Lerner. Lerner was listed among the 25 most influential thinkers for his 40 years working with urban sustainability, starting in the 1970s with his urban revolution of a once obscure city in Brazil, Curitiba. Curitiba is where I am from; Jaime Lerner is my father.

In 124 Notebooks …

Song’S Site At Los Angeles Eco-Village Redevelopment, Kendall Gilbert, Marina Rios, Kristin Hernandez, Gianna Morelli

Honors Thesis

The Los Angeles Eco-Village (LAEV) is a co-op housing community, located in Koreatown, focused on building sustainable and economically cooperative living in an urban environment. The purpose of this project is to transform a property recently acquired by the LAEV, called Song’s, into a multipurpose community hub. The project design goals established with LAEV founder and community members, include cultivating new highly sustainable and resilient ideas on urban living and incorporating educational elements that inspire the community and visitors to live more sustainably. This project proposes three design elements to improve the community use of the newly acquired Song’s at …

Biodive, Morgana Faucett

Graduate Theses

Humans exist among an intertwined series of ecosystems and environments. As a species, we curate the spaces, these environments, that surround us to suit our internalized visions of the world. While such curation is not inherently negative, humanity’s industrial process of constructing our visions is not always handled with sustainable methods. This paper analyzes my creative work through the framework of architecture’s role in climate change and human impact, highlighting past and present building practices. Solutions for future practices will also be considered, specifically targeting the questions of construction material, building function, and repurposing of older buildings to achieve a …

Tactical Urbanism On A University Campus: A Case Study Of Crossroads On Dickson, Noah Berg

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Tactical Urbanism is a method of creating temporary, low-cost interventions in a city’s built environment, aiming to test new ideas, gather community feedback, and create momentum for larger-scale changes. The approach is characterized by its focus on quick, iterative projects that can be easily implemented and adjusted, rather than large, expensive initiatives that take years to complete. Examples of Tactical Urbanism projects include pop-up bike lanes, parklets, and community gardens. The goal is to encourage community participation, foster a sense of ownership, and create a safer, more livable, and inclusive city. In spring 2022, a class called “Walk, Bike, Link” …

Perceived Safety And Equitable Access: An Investigation Of The Northwest Arkansas Regional Greenway, Jessica Shearman

Landscape Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

In today’s world, designers, planners, and policymakers are grappling with conflicts of climate change, habitat loss, and increasing diversity all during a migratory trend towards urban areas and higher densities of living. Creating public spaces that are both resilient ecologically and environmentally, while also creating a sense of place is essential for providing a higher quality of life equitably for all citizens. Through case studies and literature review, the public’s safety perceptions when accessing public spaces is key to equitable access. Specifically, differing perceptions of safety based on gender, race, and backgrounds. Perceived safety can be defined as an awareness …

Digital To Phygital: An Analysis Of How A Better Collaboration Between Interior Designers And Mobile App Developers Could Improve The Future Of Retail, Hayden Wyrick

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

Interior designers and mobile app developers equally play a role in the design of omnichannel retailing spaces (either within the physical or digital realm) where retailers and consumers interact with each other; yet they hardly work in tandem. Omnichannel retailing creates a seamless experience for consumers when interacting with a retailer and allows them to purchase items in a cross-channel setting. Consumer expectations of retailers’ omnichannel approaches are increasing, and therefore this study investigates two of the most successful retailers, Walmart and Amazon, through a qualitative approach of case studies, interviews, and public observations. This study intended to explore the …

Maidstone Estates: Utilizing Research-Based Design To Create The Luxury, Location, And Lifestyle Of A Continuing Care Retirement Community, Jake Hardin

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The nature of this essay explores the implementation of research-based design to the senior living concept and showcases how design can improve and empower the lives of our seniors as they hit retirement age. Over the course of the essay, the project will begin as a concept and navigate its way through the design processes until the concept is fully developed as a stand-alone package that speaks for itself. Maidstone Estates is built upon the guidelines of the Green House Project and outlines the mixed-use nature of design involving branding, building code, ADA compliance, universal design, and the three acuity …

Of Word And Stone: The History Of Medieval Spain Through The Lens Of Architecture And Language, Samantha Hernandez

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Medieval Spain is a unique summation of religious and cultural communities. Through the built forms of Al-Andalus, there is unique preservation of societal imprints that parallel the formation of the Castilian language. These two mediums—architecture and language—are a telling of the culture and history of the region. By first observing the historical formation of Spanish, and in turn the various communities which inhabited the Iberian Peninsula, one may find many correlations with architecture created at the same time. After understanding the historical making of the Spanish language, it is important to analyze the language itself and how it differs from …

Early Childhood Educational Toys Through An Architectural Perspective, Anindhitha Sudhakaran

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This capstone explores the overlaps between architectural training and early childhood education, and how architectural design can inform the design process of creating educational toys for young children. Through an analysis of pedagogies used throughout history in early childhood education and my own personal experiences of architecture school, an understanding of how an architectural perspective can influence activities for three- to five-year-olds is developed. Precedent studies of open-ended educational toys designed by educators and designers introduced the design thinking mindset necessary to create an effectively enriching toy. The next phase of this project involves designing an educational toy for the …

Adhd In Classroom Design, Conley Lents

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper identifies interventions that primary schools should implement to make their physical environments more conducive to learning for students with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and, by extension, the entire student body. The school environment's impact on children is often underestimated, leaving children to be blamed for issues that could have been prevented. This oversight is mainly caused by a general need for more understanding of these students and this environment's vital role because of the limited research on both. The evidence-based interventions developed are based on a review of research on the impact of the school environment and ADHD …

Designing For Mass Customization Housing Through Generative Design, Tania Salgueiro

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research proposal aims to investigate computational design strategies for sustainable, affordable, and more equitable housing. The study will focus on the use of generative design tools, such as parametric modeling, rule-based modeling, and optimization, to aid architects and designers in creating custom housing complexes for single families in small and medium urban lots. The goal is to develop a computational method that considers sustainability, affordability, and long-term usage parameters to create housing designs that meet the desired spatial qualities. The research question asks how generative design tools can support designers in approaching affordable housing given the increasing demand for …

Environmental Injustice In Fayetteville, Arkansas: Investigating Unjust And Racist Conditions In Fayetteville's Industrial Park, Chloe Devecsery

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Environmental racism refers to how minority neighborhoods are burdened with a disproportionate number of environmental hazards and pollution that lower the quality of life and create health disparities. Despite the growing awareness of the national and global problem, environmental injustice and racism can be found in nearly every place. There is little being done regarding policy, public awareness, and government action. The fight for environmental justice is still needed across America, in Arkansas, and in our community. This disciplinary-oriented capstone gives a brief overview of the environmental justice movement and uses publicly available maps and statistics from government and academic …

The Study Of Pine Bluff Low-Income Housing Opportunities: What Is The Cost Of Inaction?, Victoria Best

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

The impact of stable housing can have the power to shape the overall quality of life. Housing influences various life outcomes, such as education, health, financial stability, emotional well-being, and an overall sense of safety. Studies show that quality of life is linked to housing stability and impacts people of all ages. This thesis looks at the city of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, which has a severe low-income housing shortage which results in many people living in poverty and unstable settings.

This thesis analyzes three low-income housing case studies to evaluate the process and outcomes of various approaches to addressing housing …

Springdale Arkansas' Form-Based Code: Analyzing Urban Dispositions, Nate Cole

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Springdale, Arkansas, has witnessed population growth, public and private development, and interest from stakeholders throughout the Northwest Arkansas region in the past six years. The impetus for this case study is the rapid urbanization of Springdale, catalyzed by the adoption of a downtown Form-Based Code in 2017. The study analyzes four projects representing a range of typologies and uses, selected from many new and upcoming projects in the FBC area. Utilizing multiple techniques to present each project's spatial and social characteristics, the study presents these nuances and provokes further discussions. A literature review covering complexity and complex adaptive systems supports …