Architecture Commons^™

2025- The Twenty-Ninth Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the 29th Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 16-18, 2025. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Drselects: Paola Bertola, Iac Member, Paola Bertola

DRSelects

No abstract provided.

Drselects: Davide Fassi, Iac Member, Davide Fassi

DRSelects

No abstract provided.

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 …

The Glory Of The Islands: The Narrative Of Islands Behind The Design Of ‘Nagara Rimba Nusa’, Rebecca Victoria Simatupang, Rr. Diah Asih Purwaningrum

Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance

In the pursuit of creating its new capital city, the Indonesian government conducted a design competition to find alternatives that best represented the fusion between traditional and modern Indonesia. The winning design titled ‘Nagara Rimba Nusa’ employed the narrative of glorious islands as the basis of its design concepts, evoking nostalgic memories of ‘Nusantara’ in the era of the Majapahit Kingdom. This narrative became effective in capturing public attention, followed by the President of Indonesia’s decision to formalize Nusantara as the new name of the capital city. This paper delves into the design of Nagara Rimba Nusa and analyses how …

Cornelia Fort Airpark, Ava L. Zindel

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Cornelia Fort Airpark is an abandoned private airport that has been turned into a festival space, park, and biking trail for the people of Nashville. The Airport operated from the 1940s to 2011 until it was deemed unusable after the Cumberland River flooded Nashville in 2010. The park now hosts the Cornelia Fort Pickin' Party every summer, a community event featuring folk artists, craft beer, and local vendors. It is named after the first female pilot to die on duty in WWII, Cornelia Fort. She grew up in Tennessee, and the airpark was built in the 1940s, not far from …

The World Is A Museum: Creating Digital Museum Guides For Self-Directed Site Visits, Elaine Edmonds

Case studies: Digital Education

Site visits are a core part of learning in most built environment courses, and the context of our professions are all around us in the cities and towns. A lot of Planning and Environment modules rely on site visits for real world experiential learning about complex topics and interactions. There are barriers to these visits, particularly with larger classes and in the context of covid restrictions they became almost impossible. The benefits of site visits include adding psychosensory learning to courses which are largely cognitive, and effective learning, allowing for multimodal teaching and development of the students’ critical assessment skills …

Alvar Aalto: Past. Present.Future, Matthew Collins

Interior Design Capstones

Alvar Aalto serves as a timeless guide for architectural and design principles. These principles are not of universal rigidness but are flexible based on the givenconditions of site, culture, and people. His traditionalmethods of sketching and drawing create a hand to mind connection to the design process. This process, much like his work, develops a mindful and thoughtful outcome of decisions. With computer technology become more increasingly apart of our lives, it is important that we not forget the human point of view rather than purely a rational mode of thinking. This capstone project address how it is possible to …

Architecture Of Union: Exploring Community-Supported Wedding Venues, Erica Keillor

Interior Design Capstones

Weddings, as deeply symbolic rituals, often rely heavily on the venue to set the tone and enhance the emotional resonance of the event Yet, the rising cost of wedding venues often excludes couples from lower-to-middle income backgrounds, creating a barrier to access for many. This design project explores the potential of a community-supported greenhouse wedding venue—a model that not only offers affordability through shared community investment but also enhances the symbolic resonance of weddings through its nature-integrated architecture. The design investigates how intentional spatial planning within a greenhouse structure can serve both the practical needs of wedding ceremonies and the …

Food, Design & Desire, Emily Harnden

Interior Design Capstones

The research presented in Food, Design, and Desire examines the impactful role of interior design in shaping the connection between humans and food, with a focus on fine dining environments. Grounded by the thesis, the ideal dining experience creates a profound connection to oneself and the environment around you. This project investigates how built environments influence diners’ emotional and physical experiences, enhancing their intimacy with food. The research addresses the interplay between space, desire, and the human relationship with culinary experiences, aiming to develop design strategies that increase customer retention and deepen the human connection to food.

This project utilizes …

74/2 | Hellenistic Nysa-Scythopolis: The Finds And Conclusions, Gabriel Mazor,, Walid Atrash, Débora Sandhaus

IAA Reports—Monograph Series of the Israel Antiquities Authority

This is the fifth volume of publications of the Bet She’an Archaeological Project, describing the large-scale IAA excavations at the site of Bet She’an–ancient Nysa-Scythopolis, during 1986–2002. Bet She’an V: Hellenistic Nysa-Scythopolis is the second volume presenting the full excavation report of the IAA excavations at Tel Iẓṭabba, conducted between 1991 and 1994. The first volume in this series, Bet She’an IV (IAA Reports 62), focused on two corpora of finds: stamped amphora handles and sealings. The current volume, Bet She’an V, is comprised of two parts (IAA Reports 74/1, 74/2) dedicated to the stratigraphy, architecture and finds from the …

Enhancing Pedestrian Safety Around Jacksonville State University: A Gis-Based Perception And Crash Analysis, Husain O. Alegimenlen

Theses

This study uses a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based approach to assess pedestrian safety around Jacksonville State University (JSU) by combining vehicle crash data with perception surveys from 111 pedestrians and 97 drivers. The research identifies high-risk areas, explores contributing factors, and recommends targeted safety improvements.

A total of 209 geocoded crash records (2021 to 2024) were analyzed using Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) and hotspot analysis in ArcGIS Pro. Crash clusters appeared along Pelham Road North and Mountain Street, marking key vehicular risk zones. Three major pedestrian danger areas were found: (1) Nisbet Street NW and Cardinal Lane NW, (2) …

Sustainable Roots: Utilizing Historic Technologies For Modern Housing, Abigail Yeagley

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Viewed through a post-humanist lens, this thesis explores the reconciliation of indigenous, historic, and contemporary climate technologies to design housing that exists in harmony with the environment. Addressing the dual crises of housing scarcity and climate change, the project challenges Western post-industrial approaches, embracing Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) as a sustainable alternative. This thesis uses the AIA Framework for Design Excellence as a foundational guide but simultaneously critiques its scope, seeking to adapt and extend its principles to better align with Posthumanist housing principles. The design responds to specific climate conditions, analyzed using the Koppen-Geiger model, to ensure resilience, community …

“Gli Scheletri Della Dittatura”: Fascist Art, Architecture, And Monuments In Modern Italy, John "Jack" Moore

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

When Italy reconstituted itself as a republic in 1948, it inherited the art, architecture, and monuments that were constructed under Fascism. Many of these artifacts contained inherent Fascist imagery and were made to exalt the regime, but Italy’s postwar government – known as the First Republic – neglected to systematically confront them. This mirrored the First Republic’s approach to shaping Italy’s memory of Fascism, as the government established an anti-fascist narrative without addressing the country’s support for the regime. During the 1980s, notions of anti-fascism began to fall alongside the political power structure upholding them. This coincided with the rise …

Graduate School Blog - April 2025 Volume 1, Cynthia Haynes

UofM Grad School Blog

The April 2025 UofM Graduate School Blog highlights a month full of events, stories, and celebrations, beginning with Dr. Deborah Tollefsen’s personal graduate school journey, shared during the “Is Graduate School Right for Me?” virtual workshop an inspiring narrative of resilience, mentorship, and finding purpose through education. This edition also spotlights Graduate Student Appreciation Week, featuring a robust lineup of events such as a virtual town hall, resume and job market workshop, student social and awards ceremony, study session, and social dinners all designed to support, celebrate, and connect the UofM graduate student community. With opportunities to hear from …

Impacts Of Imageability Of Architecture On Brain Health: A Systematic Literature Review, Cristian Maestre, Shana Garza, Yohany Albornoz, Silvia Mejia-Arango, Jesus D. Melgarejo, Gladys Maestre

School of Medicine Publications

Imageability is a component of urban design and planning that has been recognized for its potential to enhance people’s perceptual and emotional engagement with their environment. Nevertheless, evidence supporting specific strategies and its impacts on brain health is still unclear. This systematic review aimed to characterize and summarize the evidence on the importance of imageability of architecture for brain cognitive and psychological health. This systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines. Our keywords included imageability and architecture, environment, built environment, neuroarchitecture, aphantasia, urban design, memorability, visual recall, mental visualization, architectural features, façade, wayfinding, familiarity, vividness, cognition, expectations, green walls, …

Building Services Engineering March/April 2025

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Amplification In Mems Rlc Circuits For Enhanced Sensitivity And Mems Applications, Mutaz Mohd Hamdi Al Fayad

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

Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) have garnered significant attention due to their unique characteristics, including small size, high sensitivity, and cost-effective mass production. While electrostatic actuation offers low power consumption, it requires high voltage to move the MEMS structure, posing a challenge for applications such as RF switches and MEMS resonator-based sensors. Reducing the required input voltage for electrostatic MEMS remains a key research focus.

This thesis investigates voltage amplification in electrostatic MEMS through integration with resonant RLC circuits. By leveraging resonance, optimized configurations are designed to maximize voltage gain and enhance the signal-to-noise ratio. Through theoretical modeling and simulations using MATLAB …

Implementing Biomimetic Technology In Today’S Architectural World, Emily Behm

Honors Projects

An interdisciplinary project exploring the correlation between nature and the built environment. This project provides a comprehensive overview of biomimicry principles and their application to architecture. D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson, the pioneer of mathematical biology, will emerge as a central research figure in the exploration of biomimetic technology. With inspiration drawn from Thompson’s accomplishments, contemporary architects have been more thoroughly integrating these approaches into their own architectural designs. The following research addresses a fundamental limitation in contemporary architectural practice: the insufficient integration of biomimetic principles into architectural design approaches. This project proposes a systematic methodology to more effectively integrate biomimetic technology …

What Is A Digital Twin Anyway? Deriving The Definition For The Built Environment From Over 15,000 Scientific Publications, Abdelrahman Mahmoud, Edgardo Macatulad, Binyu Lei, Matias Quintana, Clayton Miller, Filip Biljecki

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

The concept of Digital Twins (DT) has attracted significant attention across various domains, particularly within the built environment. However, there is a sheer volume of definitions and the terminological consensus remains out of reach. The lack of a universally accepted definition leads to ambiguities in their conceptualization and implementation, and may cause miscommunication for both researchers and practitioners.We employed Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques to systematically extract and analyze definitions of DTs from a corpus of more than 15,000 full-text articles spanning diverse disciplines. The study compares these findings with insights from an expert survey that included 52 experts. The …

Universal Window A/C Mounting & Sealing Solution, Adrian Losoya, Elijah Narvaez, Savannah Youngblood

Posters - 2025

Window air conditioning units require stable support to prevent damage to window frames and ensure safe operation. Many existing brackets lack durability or are difficult to install which leads to safety concerns. This project focuses on designing, constructing, and testing an easy-to-install wall-mounted bracket capable of securely supporting an air conditioner while enhancing energy efficiency.

Area Character Appraisal Red Top, Preservation Project

Master of Science degree in Historic Preservation - Research Reports

This Area Character Appraisal (ACA) has been prepared by four Clemson Master of Science in Historic Preservation students – Lorena Garrod, Hamzah Jule, Thompson Teasdale, and Belle Ziethen – under the direction of Erin Mehard and Lucas Hernandez of Weston & Sampson for the larger Gullah Geechee Heritage Preservation Project. Students received further guidance from Clemson professors Frank Ordia and Amalia Leifeste and from Red Top community representative Dr. Melody Dover, all of whom contributed to the findings of this report.

Area Character Appraisal Hamlin Beach, Preservation Project

Master of Science degree in Historic Preservation - Research Reports

An Area Character Appraisal (ACA) is a tool in identifying key elements that define a community’s character with the goals of informing community members and future generations, community outreach, and perhaps most importantly guiding future development practices to preserve the character of the community. These documented elements include architectural character, typical lot sizes and coverage, building footprints, county zoning, and flood risk zones. This document can be used as a reference in future community planning for Charleston County, community representatives, and nonprofit organizations.

This ACA is part of a larger set of ACAs conducted under the supervision of Erin Mehard …

Area Character Appraisal Lincolnville, Preservation Project

Master of Science degree in Historic Preservation - Research Reports

The Gullah Geechee Heritage Preservation Project is a multi-jurisdictional collaboration to support the documentation, recognition, and preservation of historic Gullah Geechee African American Ancestral Communities and their significant historic and cultural sites. Clemson MSHP students along with the help of Dr. Pernessa Seele began research by collecting prior studies, historical maps, and photographs of Lincolnville. Students also obtained copies of prepared National Register nominations. They researched local archives, including the South Carolina Room at the Charleston County Public Library, Historic Charleston Foundation Archives, the South Carolina Historical Society, and the Charleston Library Society.

Framework For Integrating Industry Knowledge Into A Large Language Model To Assist Construction Cost Estimation, Prashnna Ghimire

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

The construction industry generates a large amount of data across projects produced by digital devices, tools, and methods, and this volume is rapidly increasing. However, the industry lags behind in adopting data-driven technologies. On the other hand, the rapid advancement of generative AI (GenAI) in recent years, especially state-of-the-art large language models (LLMs), shows great potential and has been increasingly adopted in many industries; however, the construction industry is behind in adoption. While academic studies have proposed various machine learning applications for construction, industry implementation has lagged due to a disconnect between these proof-of-concept developments and practical industry needs. Also, …

Icms3 Explainer Infographic, Conor Shaw, James O'Donnell

Tools

International standardisation is important for consistency in climate and financial governance. EU and Irish policy is moving to require Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Life Cycle Carbon Emissions (LCCE) reporting.

Bird Richness As A Mediator Between Greenspace And Mental Health Relationships, Sihao Chena, Huaqing Wang, Wenyan Xu

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

Neighborhood greenspaces are widely known to benefit bird diversity and human mental health. However, whether bird richness mediates the relationship between greenspace and mental health is unknown. We ascertain such mediation effects in 294 census tracts in Los Angeles City. We obtained greenspace data from one-meter resolution satellite imagery, bird species data from eBird citizen science datasets, and prevalence of poor mental health from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mediation analysis combined with spatial error models was used to assess the mediating effects while controlling for geographic, demographic, and socio-economic factors. We found that the higher greenspace …

Reading Of A Walkable University Landscape In North Central Nigeria, Salawu Ahmed, Isa Bala Muhammad, Abubakar Danladi Isah

Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ)

Walkable landscapes are tied to people’s perception of their environment. Walking also constitutes the most equitable means of transport because it is available to all. Studies have shown that walking has inherent benefits to the environment as well as the health benefits to the partaker. Most University campuses are characterized by large landscapes within which movements are made to connect facilities located far apart from each other. It is therefore important to understand the constituents of what makes a university campus walkable. This study therefore examined the character of a walkable campus landscape through the lens of qualitative research paradigm. …

Correlation Of Socioeconomic Characteristics And Maintenance Level Of Houses In Mass Housing Scheme In Ilorin, Nigeria, Oladimeji Samuel Bolaji, Abubakar-Kamar Tayo Aishat, Adeyemi Olabanji Lukman, Arosanyin Mofeoluwa Victor

Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ)

It is a common belief that certain behaviors are influenced by a person's social level. This claim is taken to apply to housing maintenance in any society, whether it is owned or rented. The aim of this study is to identify the socioeconomic indicators that are most predictive of the maintenance level of houses in mass housing schemes in the metropolis of Ilorin, Nigeria. Both primary and secondary data were used in this investigation. Qualitative and quantitative data through structured questionnaires administered on 1125 household heads constituting 27% of the sample frame were collected from sixteen (16) mass housing schemes …