Lgbtq+ Spaces In Rural Arkansas That Accommodate And Advocate For Queer Existence, Lacey Oxford

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

Queer communities located in rural Arkansas are often scarce and elusive to the public eye as a justified reaction to mass negative interpretations and understandings of these LGBTQ+ individuals from a predominantly conservative population. The few who have a more broadcasted identity are subject to potential public scrutiny, but offer queer individuals needed refuge and areas of unfiltered self-expression. This paper explores two LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and other identifying individuals) communities and their concomitant establishments: Santuario Arco Iris, an esteemed communal settlement designed specifically for BIPOC (black, indigenous, and other people of color), queer individuals in Boxley, …

Storytelling In Interior Design: A Hospitality Case Study Based On Avatar: The Last Airbender, Katelyn Isaacson Bauer

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Storytelling can function as a crucial element in interior design, offering a powerful means to captivate and engage individuals within a space. The allure of storytelling lies in its ability to evoke emotions, convey messages, and create memorable experiences. Humans are naturally drawn to narratives that transport them to different worlds, evoke nostalgia, or inspire. This fascination with storytelling has led to a notable increase in themed spaces across various industries, from amusement parks and hotels to restaurants and retail spaces. The integration of storytelling into interior design not only enhances the aesthetic appeal of a space but also serves …

Workflow And Best Practices Of Planting Design In Virtual Reality, Becca L. Springer

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

The purpose of this study is to develop a technical workflow and deliver an instructional module for teaching planting design in Virtual Reality (VR). The developed workflow and instructional model will be presented to students enrolled at Utah State University in the Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning (LAEP) Department. The first objective of this thesis project is to explore and create a successful workflow of basic planting design principles and apply them in virtual reality with the use of new technology. The virtual reality and planting design software that were explored were Twinmotion, VR Sketch, SketchUp, AutoCAD, Land FX, Gravity …

Utilizing Biomimicry To Design Sustainable Architecture, Virginia Hammond

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Nature has an integral relationship with architecture and serves as a sustainable role model and inspiration for designers. The process of biomimicry in architecture has the potential to produce more sustainable design solutions and foster a connection between humans and nature. Existing biomimetic design projects have varying strengths and weaknesses as examples of the process. Utilizing guidelines and references from key leaders in biomimetic design consultancy (Biomimicry 3.8), selected case studies are assessed for their ability to demonstrate the benefits of this design strategy. Using these evaluations, the case studies are diagrammed and critiqued to determine how new projects could …

Parallel Development: Analyzing The Relationship Between Active Transportation Planners And Real Estate Developers In Northwest Arkansas, Jared Davenport

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

The emergence of active transportation infrastructure in the United States has garnered attention from real estate developers, presenting opportunities for capitalizing on a growing market. This trend has prompted shifts in development patterns in various cities, notably in Northwest Arkansas. This region has seen substantial growth in active transportation infrastructure, exemplified by the Razorback Greenway, alongside remarkable economic expansion fueled by corporate investments, notably from Walmart and the Walton family. As real estate development and active transportation infrastructure intersect, it's essential to understand their implications for sustainability. This study aims to explore the strategies, motivations, and perspectives of planners and …

Towards Sustainable Architecture: Exploring The Potential For Mold Making In Cob Building, Sarah Halldorson

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

With the call for sustainable design appearing to be on the rise in recent decades, cob can offer a unique solution for creating sturdy, long-lasting, environmentally friendly, and moldable homes. With the need for sustainability in architecture and construction becoming more evident, a return to well-documented ancient building practices that have proven to stand the test could create a unique solution for some wanting to find an alternative to modern construction and design. Traditionally a method of construction lacking an architect’s input and seen as a pure vernacular form of architecture, could added awareness and the ability to create more …

Towards A New Urbanism- Using Artificial Intelligence To Reconcile Modernist Aesthetics With New Urbanist Principles, Nicholas Hurley

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

As urbanization and densification of cities have become undeniable trends of the past few centuries, designers have theorized ways of building the ideal environment for its inhabitants to thrive. These methods include the Garden Cities, Late Modern Housing Estates, and New Urbanism. This study will focus on New Urbanism. Known for its reluctance to embrace new architectural styles and ways of building, incorporating contemporary architectural styles presents a challenge to the future applicability of New Urbanism.

To analyze this issue, this study will leverage the ability of Artificial Intelligence image generation software to evaluate the compatibility of New Urbanism principles …

Geometric Principles In Architecture Aesthetics, Vincent Gemmiti

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study focuses on geometric formalism in three major monuments across different architectural eras in time. The use of three distinct geometric principles to outline the use of pure or manufactured shapes and figures helps to discover and isolate an aesthetic component of architecture within which it is contained. A collection of studies are implemented and are focused on orthographic drawings from each monument in horizontality and verticality, consisting of a dual set of overlay and interpretative drawings for each type of orthographic representation for each monument. A discussion follows and highlights the changes or similarities over time the role …

The Development Of A Convenient And Consistent Methodology For Flight Proficiency To Certify Multi-Rotor Uas Pilots For State Departments Of Transportation, Colin Dees

All Dissertations

To fly an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly referred to as a “drone,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires pilots to pass a knowledge test. There is no requirement at the state or federal level for drone operators to demonstrate the ability to operate a UAS. The National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) has created an exam for public and private entities to assess basic UAS flight proficiency. It is the only nationally recognized flight proficiency protocol. NIST does not provide a scoring recommendation and leaves it to the user to determine the minimum criteria to pass. There is …

Considerations For Virtual Reality In Architectural Design Development, Alexander White

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This is an undergraduate thesis research about the exploration of Virtual Reality (VR) in the architectural design career field at the design development stage for architectural projects. VR is a tool that is available for designers to use to make design decisions for their projects and is used to explore the design in space at a one-to-one scale. VR has proven itself to be a valuable resource for designers and clients; however, it has been personally observed that VR is not as utilized as much as it could be in the architectural design development workflow. The purpose of this research …

Analyzing Rural Public Libraries In Northwest Arkansas, Eden Isbell

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

The role of architecture in rural public libraries is integral in their success. The use of design in these spaces acts as a catalyst for fostering community engagement and facilitating a deeper understanding of information presented through both physical and digital media. This study investigates how thoughtful architectural interventions can create context, enhance accessibility, and encourage community participation within these spaces. Rural public libraries serve as vital hubs for information dissemination, education, and community interaction, yet they often face unique challenges due to their geographical isolation and limited resources. By addressing the specific needs and challenges of rural areas, architects …

Influence Of Narrative On Interior Architectural Film Visualizations: A Case Study Of Dune, Tatem Criner

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

The following investigation is a case study of the popular classic novel DUNE, written by Frank Herbert in 1965, and its successive cinematic iterations about the nature of the translation of architectural visualizations through communicative mediums, literature and film. The investigation sought to answer the following questions: “To what extent do descriptions of interior architecture influence a film adaptation’s interpretation of built visualizations?” and “Can written narratives of interior environments be an effective tool to generate physical interior architecture?” The methodology process began by selecting three scenes from the novel and their successive cinematic interpretations. The cinematic interpretations included …

Exposing The Conflicting Cultural Narratives Of Downtown Springdale, Jennifer Sandoval-Salinas

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

This capstone project examines the relationship between seen and unseen acts of gentrification, displacement, and cultural preservation during the revitalization of the downtown area of Springdale, Arkansas. Gentrification and displacement are social issues of concern in the Northwest Arkansas region as it is experiencing economic growth and population increase. By means of a creative and artistic inquiry the study uncovers the traditions and identities that continue to shape Springdale’s unique cultural heritage through a multifaceted approach. The study includes a demographic analysis, historical examination, community engagement, and case studies which all collectively inform a comprehensive graphic analysis that interprets current …

Reimagining The Grocery Shopping Experience, Isabel Provisor Lemery

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research investigates the design and implementation of a Smart Shopping Cart system aimed at enhancing the shopping experience and providing nutritional education to consumers. The study begins with a comprehensive store observation across various grocery stores, including Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Harps, and Aldi, to gather information on current in-store environments. Detailed measurements and assessments are conducted on shopping carts, baskets, circulation paths, and signage, as well as the functionality of mobile apps offered by each store. Based on these observations, design suggestions for the Smart Shopping Cart system are proposed. The Smart Shopping Cart design incorporates two different-sized …

How Design Depicted In Film Contributes To The Evolution Of Cultural Narratives, Catherine Vanhoose

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

Interior Design and its trends have had significant influence on pop culture and the general public through the course of human history. Acting as a universal language, design is a tool often used to help communicate ideas. The different interpretations of these ideas are what help to create cultural narratives. This capstone explores the relationships between film and design as creative arts, how they are affected by the current times and trends throughout the history of women, and as a result how women throughout history are influenced by these relationships. Findings provide insight on how interior design is used to …

Textile-To-Textile Upcycling; A Design Process To Make Hand-Felted Textiles Using Existing Materials By Utilizing The Wet Felting Production Technique, Kristin Rapach

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

This creative, artistic capstone investigates textile-to-textile upcycling in regards to sustainability, circularity, and adaptive reuse. By synthesizing an understanding of the current data, knowledge gaps, and research needs, this inquiry will explore the process of material manipulation and making. This understanding of textile-to-textile upcycling methods may inform innovative and sustainable modern processes, offering an artisan alternative to the limited existing techniques. This process requires hands-on experimentation in pursuit of a sustainable, circular solution to textile-to-textile upcycling.

Artificial Intelligence In Landscape Architecture: A Survey Of Theory, Culture, And Practice, Phillip J. Fernberg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This dissertation explores the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in shaping the landscape architecture profession. It looks at how AI has evolved in the field, its current influence, and its potential to change research, teaching, and professional practice. The research includes a detailed review of existing literature to identify trends in AI applications and gaps in knowledge. It also examines landscape architects' attitudes towards AI, revealing a mix of enthusiasm for its benefits and concerns about its impact on creativity and design processes, and proposes new ways of thinking about and working with AI. The work brings a unique perspective …

Traffic Analysis Of Cities In San Bernardino County, Sai Kalyan Ayyagari

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This research offers an in-depth analysis of vehicular traffic within San Bernardino County, California, aiming to spotlight congestion areas and suggest improvements for more efficient and sustainable transportation. Leveraging 2021 data from StreetLight Data, traffic patterns in 15 key cities were examined based on their population sizes, covering various vehicle types to dissect dynamics and flow. The methodology focused on analyzing trip purposes and metrics to calculate Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and its influence on congestion and environmental factors.

Findings indicate considerable disparities in traffic volume, purposes, and timings across different urban areas, with population density and intercity connections significantly …

Truck Traffic Analysis In The Inland Empire, Bhavik Khatri

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study undertakes a meticulous examination of truck traffic within the Inland Empire, focusing on the distribution and dynamics of medium and heavy-duty vehicles, to advocate for the region's transition to electric trucks. Utilizing advanced spatial analysis and data from Streetlight Data, it segments the region into six subregions, revealing distinct traffic patterns and environmental impacts. Notably, the research uncovers that the North Center and West zones, integral to the logistics and warehousing sectors, exhibit the highest traffic volumes, significantly influencing air quality and infrastructure.

Quantitative results from 2021 illustrate a pronounced disparity in truck activity: medium-weight vehicles accounted for …

Tracking The "Soiled Doves": A Cultural Landscape Of Sex Work In Charleston, South Carolina From 1880-1939, Rachel Fore

All Theses

Sex work in the United States has become a more widely studied subject in the last twenty years. Most of these studies focus on the historical or archaeological evidence left behind by sex workers. Many of these studies focus most heavily on sex work in the western United States. Studies have looked through a variety of different lenses including gender, race, and economic impact. Despite these varied lenses, little attention has been paid to sex work in Southern cities such as Charleston, South Carolina. The purpose of this thesis is to add to the basic understanding of the prevalence, placement, …

Assessing Equitable Distribution Of The Urban Tree Canopy At The Neighborhood Scale In Greenville, South Carolina., April Riehm

All Theses

We are living in an era that necessitates adaptation and resilience. The Earth is warming. Our climate has changed (EPA, 2016). Our planet is also rapidly urbanizing. It is predicted that 68% of people will live in cities by 2050. The City of Greenville is a rapidly growing city in South Carolina that has been losing its tree canopy to development(City of Greenville, 2023). The Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) is a community asset that provides many quality-of-life benefits including improved air quality, stormwater management, carbon sequestration, mental and physical well-being, increased mobility and access, aesthetics, a reduction in energy costs, …

Ahead Of The Digital Curve: Digitally Documenting And Interpreting The Historic Built Environment In Museums, Hannah St. Onge

All Theses

Digital documentation technology came into the mainstream of preservation in the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries. These technologies have also begun to make their way into museums, another piece of the preservation field. Literature detailing the use of digital documentation technology in museums focuses largely on isolated case studies, often from museums in Europe and Asia. The research on the topic currently lacks a broad understanding of the use of these technologies in museums across the United States.

This thesis utilizes a survey method to determine the scope of digital documentation technologies usage to create 3D digital …

The Catalyst For Preservation: Assessing The Impact Of Historic Tax Credit Leverage On Surrounding Property Values In The State Of South Carolina, John Sutton

All Theses

The historic rehabilitation tax credit, in its many forms, is the single greatest driver of historic preservation investment in the United States. Despite this, very little research has been done regarding the secondary effects of historic tax credit leverage. The goal of this thesis is to assess the impact that substantial historic tax credit projects have had on the value of the properties that surround them in the state of South Carolina. Property tax assessment records were solicited from three different county governments within South Carolina to analyze the change in the assessed value induced by the introduction of tax …

Analysis Of The Right Sizing Approach To Healthcare Space Planning, Johnathan Anspach

All Theses

Achieving optimal spatial design in healthcare facilities is crucial for efficient operations and high-quality patient care. This study investigates the application of the right-sizing approach to healthcare conceptual design, with a specific focus on the Medical-Surgical Unit (MSU) and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) departments within inpatient wards. Utilizing a robust methodology, foundational parameters and constraints were established to align with the functional requirements of a 100-bed hospital case study. Through a systematic process, industry practitioners contributed valuable insights via surveys, facilitating the quantification of parameter rankings essential for spatial decision-making.

Analysis of the data revealed significant correlations between parameters, emphasizing …

The Machine In The Rice Field: A Spatial Analysis Of Mechanized Rice Processing Infrastructure Along The Cooper River, 1780 - 1830, Jacob Hockenberry

All Theses

This thesis examines the spatial and physical characteristics of mechanized rice processing infrastructure along the Cooper River in South Carolina’s Lowcountry between 1780 and 1830. Historic rice plantation plats and modern geospatial data provided new information regarding the location of rice processing machines in relation to other plantation landscape features. This research analyzed seven rice plantations that contained these machines. Each plantation plat was georeferenced using ArcGIS Pro to support a detailed spatial analysis of these processing sites. While literature has extensively detailed the social, economic, environmental and enslaved aspects of rice culture in the Lowcountry, little research has specifically …

Historically Char-Ming, Deryn Candelaria

All Theses

Within the field of Historic Preservation, wood is an essential building material to understand and develop effective treatments to preserve given its wide spread use in history in particular the United States and North America. One of wood's fatal properties is its combustibility. Fire is a constant threat to all historic structures, and materials which requires considered interventions. Over time, advancements in building technology, methods and materials have emerged to combat wood’s propensity for combustion. Intumescent paint, a fire protective coating, which can be used as passive fire protection, has been adopted in the Historic Preservation field in decades since …

Quantifying Hurricane Effects On Housing: Evaluating Damage, Loss, And Shelter Demands Using Historical And Simulated Storm Tracks, Adish Deep Shakya

All Theses

This research introduces an advanced framework which employs parametric wind field models for peak wind speeds, and building fragility curves, loss functions, and demographic data to estimate for estimating housing damage and loss. The uninhabitable units immediate displaced households, short-term and long-term shelter need households are determined. with a particular focus on those eligible for FEMA assistance. The framework's validity is reinforced by a high correlation in the analysis of recent hurricane events between estimated numbers of displaced households and actual FEMA aid recipients, where FEMA aids about 20-60% of the predicted long-term displaced households. A novel application of the …

Keeping Tradition Alive: Studying The Evolution Of Sweetgrass Basket Stands On Highway 17 In The Charleston Lowcountry, Megan Adornetto

All Theses

Sweetgrass baskets are a popular souvenir for tourists visiting the Lowcountry and for collectors who admire the folk art of the Gullah Geechee people. The stands at which these baskets are sold can be found along Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant, SC. This area was once a rural community that has been developed due to suburban sprawl since the early 20th century. Due to this development, as well as the lack of availability of sweetgrass and other natural resources to create these baskets, the landscape of roadside business at these basket stands is different than it was when the first …

Choices Behind The Color: An Analysis Of Paint Finish Variations In South Carolina Slave Dwellings, Lyrik Castro-Bailey

All Theses

This research sought to discover what analytical methods would allow a preservationist to access, analyze, and interpret the agency enslaved people had in selecting the interior finishes of their living quarters. Ten sites ranging in construction from 1712 to 1847 were analyzed including: Lavington Plantation Slave-Quarters, Drayton Hall Cellar, Nathaniel Russell House Kitchen-Quarters, Aiken-Rhett Slave-Quarters, John Fullerton House Kitchen-Quarters, 38 Church Street Kitchen-Quarters, 72 Anson Street Kitchen-Quarters, 54 Hasell Street Kitchen-Quarters, Capers-Motte House Kitchen-Quarters, and the Heyward House Kitchen-Quarters. Photomicrographs collected by the author and conservationist Dr. Susan Buck were organized to examine the layers of pigments. Munsell Colors were …

An Analysis Of Communication Trends Of East Coast Historic Preservation Nonprofit Organizations, Caroline Byrne

All Theses

Communication in preservation is key to elevate the momentum of preserving the built environment, historic communities, and cultural landscapes. Effective communication should expand diversity and inclusion of key demographics that have not been sufficiently reached via current or historic outreach methods. Intentional and direct strategies to message specific communities could make an impact on the future success of preservation.

This thesis uncovers the trends of current communication practices at historic preservation nonprofits along the East Coast in an effort to evaluate factors that impact methods and evaluation. The purpose of this study is to understand the current methods deployed by …