Architecture Commons^™

49 X 49 Glass House, Daisy Penaloza, Emmanuel Corona Navarro, Chengbin Kuang, Blake Durham, Grace Lauer, Augustas Lapinskas

Architectural Engineering

This project started with an analysis of the Core House or 50x50 House by Mies van der Rohe and Myron Goldsmith. Through many iterations and obstacles, we arrived at the 49x49 house. We looked into some literary influences that affected the social interpretations of glass, the most notable one being Zamyatin’s “We”. These factors influenced our main design process as we asked ourselves, what can we do with glass? When we were imagining our initial ideas for what would become of our house in the future, we took inspiration from another master’s work, New Babylon by Constant Nieuwenhuys, which correlated …

The Nolan House, Keiko-Ann K. Sanders, Gilbert C. Munoz, Michael A. Bahr, Titas Kalvalnis

Architectural Engineering

As a precedent, The Green Team analyzed the history of glass architecture, literature, and culture. Based on our research, we found that glass is often depicted as breakable, delicate, and a way to expose or display aspects that would otherwise be hidden. We challenged ourselves to incorporate safety and privacy into our glass house as a way to combat the pre-existing notions of glass in architecture.

Schematic Structural Design For Center For Centering (C4c), Jonathan Oberempt, Faith Sharp, Samuel Buckman

Architectural Engineering

The Center for Centering (C4C) is a meditative center for individuals to reflect and discover their own creativity. Based on a spoke and wheel concept, the center integrates social, sensory, environmental, and inductive spaces, allowing for individuals to discover themselves in different settings, while appearing as a striking sculpture conceived in a spiral gesture integrated in the local landscape.

The location for this structure is in Santa Cruz, CA, on Swanton Ranch. The building is built on mostly flat terrain surrounded by sparse trees and an overlooking view of the ocean.

The initial concept for the Center for Centering is …

Design And Construction Of Modular Concrete Footings And Testing Assembly For Use In Cal Poly's High Bay Laboratory, Thomas Little, Anders Johnson

Architectural Engineering

The purpose of this project was to improve the testing capabilities of the ARCE High Bay lab by designing and fabricating a pair of modular concrete footings along with a reusable testing frame capable of testing full-scale steel moment connections.

An Architectural And Structural Investigation And Reimagination Of The 50x50 Glass House, Andrew Hensen, Ivan Avila, Donatas Krivicius, Sarah Navias, Sevilla Santana, Katherine Sheetz, Michael Storti

Architectural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Journeyman International: Dwell Being Jonestown, Mississippi, Autumn Wagner

Architectural Engineering

Journeyman International is a non-profit organization that works with countries all over the world to support humanitarian projects by pairing clients with design professionals and volunteers to oversee the design and construction of projects. This specific project partners with Third Lens Ministries and But God Ministries, two organizations that are hoping to empower the community in Jonestown, Mississippi. Dwell Being promotes sustainability and affordable housing in a new housing community in Jonestown that is designed for healthy living and community interaction. Jonestown is a very small 0.4 square acre town that has roots in systemic racism and oppression. A once …

Tensegrity, Experimentation In The Removal Of Compression Stability Elements, William R. Adam, Ivan E. Cruz, Jose Hernandez, Joe Kasey Tatis-Flanagan, Truman J. Waller

Architectural Engineering

Tensegrity strives to create an impossible floating structure. To achieve this mark, cables are used to suspend the pavilion mid-air which creates an axial stress governed system. Within this axial force design constraint, a 3D space truss becomes the form. This structure pays homage to famous structural designers of the past such as Santiago Calatrava and Kenneth Snelson. Similar to these artists, tensile elements are at the forefront of the design. To accomodate the user, we have provided a sitting space nestled in the center of system. This is intended for visitors first to be puzzled by the seemingly discontinuous …

Structural Calculations For Mbandazi Village, Joshua Scott Shockey

Architectural Engineering

The Mbandazi Village project consists of two buildings: the wellness center and the shopping center/housing. The building covered in this design was the shopping center/housing.

Global considerations for this project include the improvement of life in this area of Rwanda. Though my scope of this project was a residential development and an economic center, the whole project also includes a wellness center. Altogether this is an important step to bring a developing nation up to speed as well as bring people together.

Williamson County Building Safety Plan, Jack Combs

City and Regional Planning

My senior year at Cal Poly offered me a vast array of opportunities for enriching my knowledge of the field of city and regional planning. The most impactful of my experiences was the time I spent working for the facilities department of Williamson County, Texas. This department is responsible for constructing and maintaining all of the buildings owned and occupied by Williamson County; this includes more than 60 buildings and more than 2,000,000 square feet. Additionally, as the fastest growing county north of Austin with roughly 600,000 residents, this department had many pertinent development projects to attend to.

As an …

San Joaquin Parks And Recreation Site-Specific Strategic Plan, Ida Araghieyan, Jessica M. Gastineau Romero

City and Regional Planning

The San Joaquin Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan (SJPRSP) outlines a road to success for parks, open space, and recreational amenities. Areas of improvement are identified, and local assessments of opportunities and strengths of San Joaquin are examined to curate a site-specific plan of what could be implemented regarding local parks and recreation and open space.

Health Infrastructure Accessibility In San Joaquin, Ca, Vinson Lok Kwan, Trisha Phuong Tran

City and Regional Planning

The purpose of this study is to assess the health infrastructure and accessibility in San Joaquin, California through the existing conditions of the city, reviewing various cities facing similar conditions, and creating potential solutions or recommendations to be implemented into the city to accommodate growth and overall well-being in the community.

Health infrastructure and accessibility is important to every community since it has the ability to influence the quality-of-care individuals are able to receive. When it comes to infrastructure, it is important to determine the underlying health conditions the local population faces and whether the services provided are adequate in …

Objective Design Standards For The City Of San Luis Obispo, Wilfrido Amaya, Ian Madrigal

City and Regional Planning

The state of California has been facing a housing crisis for several decades (Buhayar & Cannon, 2019). The state, along with other municipalities have been enacting laws to help mitigate the issue such as SB 35 (2017) and AB 2162 (2018). In recent years, cities and other municipalities have been using different methods of integrating missing middle housing into their planning practices. Missing middle housing is defined as being the “range of house-scale buildings with multiple units - compatible in scale and form with detached single-family homes” (missingmiddlehousing.com). There are different methods of implementing missing middle housing, however, in the …

An Analysis On The Future Of Parklets In San Luis Obispo, Reid Crandell, Aidan Lebow

City and Regional Planning

Currently, the parklet program in San Luis Obispo is a temporary program that utilizes encroachment permits to allow businesses to utilize sidewalks and a portion of the street for outdoor dining. With the emergence of parklets around the country due to COVID-19, commercial uses have been able to stay in business while adhering to the social distancing guidelines. Another added benefit has been the overall public enjoyment of utilizing parklets. Specifically in San Luis Obispo, the parklet program has made it easy for businesses to operate with added space. The question we asked in this project was whether or not …

San Joaquin Air Quality And Active Transportation Specific Plan, Samuel Robert Kuennen, William David Jarrett

City and Regional Planning

The focus of this project is to improve the overall air quality in San Joaquin. It will specifically focus on the PM2.5 pollutant, as this pollutant has the highest potential for change. Additionally, the PM2.5 pollutant poses major health risks to the community when there are high levels of it. The primary contributors of PM2.5 are automobiles, geography, and weather. This project will discuss methods that can reduce the reliance on single occupancy vehicles. These methods include the development of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure as well as the improvement of the area’s regional transport services.

Zoologijos Sodas, Arjun Elvis Urbonas, Dara Lin, Jesus Ramirez Zambrano, Samantha Ung, Robert Milkovich, Jakob Olsen, Azuolas Skucas

Architecture

50'x50' glass house in Palm Springs.

The Leed Decision-Making Processes For Northern California Commercial Construction, Shannon Marie Coyle

Construction Management

The purpose of this project was to establish a common decision-making process behind selections on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) scorecard. This report describes the similar and dissimilar motives and processes that lead construction project teams to choose the LEED credits to be implemented. By interviewing experienced project executives, architects, project managers, and LEED accredited professionals at industry-leading companies in the Bay Area, a summarization of the motives behind credit selection have been reported and commonalities and differences in the process have been noted. Through these interviews, time, cost, efficiency, and sensibility have all been considered prioritizing …

I Think We Have Some Connection Difficulty: A Review Of Architectural Vocabulary And Representation In Our Condition Of Remote Communication, David Waite

Masters Theses

The distance required to slow this pandemic created a need for Zoom technology in maintaining our economies of mental production and social closeness. Just like scientists examined the COVID-19 virus globally in its petri under the electron microscope, Zoom exposed our domestic interiors. This platform stitched together our personal existence into an infinite interior. To some extent this places Zoom attendees into a new space of vulnerability where the platform turns passive observers into active participants in a hyper self-aware virtual world where all are forced to share their fragile environments of everyday life.

While videotelephony software thankfully facilitated communication …

Reclaiming Modern Architecture: An Urban Visual Narrative Of Kuwait City, Yara Hadi

Masters Theses

For a city to be remembered, to be successful, to be desired, a distinct connection has to be made between the city-dweller and the city itself. In 1938 Kuwait transformed from a town that relied on trade into a single resource exporter of oil, fueling a booming modern economy. The influx of the automobile and modern solutions to Western ways of living would forever change the city. In the speed of these developments, critical aspects of city planning such as the pedestrian and the harsh desert climate were overlooked. Kuwait began to lose a connection between the city and its …

Augmented City, Xing Huan

Masters Theses

Racial hatred, diplomatic conflicts, financial wars, environmental destruction, Covid-19 raging. In this imperfect world that doesn't run in the way we want, we may grow numb, weary, and look for alternate realities that act as a relief from these increasingly bizarre events. And due to the current pandemic, ordinary individuals forced into isolation in a strange foreign city risk losing their psychological identity as well as their connection with the society. The city becomes a metaphor of this alienation as, in some cases, it lacks a sense of belonging by already built urban structures that disenfranchise both the individual and …

The Future Of Beijing Urban Courtyards, Zhuoqi Xu

Masters Theses

The Beijing Siheyuan is typical and representative of traditional Chinese residential construction. It is not only an architectural form but also a reflection of the traditional modes of living in Beijing. However, with the changes in family structure and people’s living needs, the spatial pattern of traditional courtyards has been unable to meet the life and economic needs of modern society. The scarce public space, poor living environment, and the low-quality of residents’ life led Siheyuan to lose its original status. Despite these challenges, whether for the protection of the overall style of Beijing’s old city or the renewal of …

A Better City For Her: Design Safer Public Spaces For Women In The United States And China, Geruihan Xu

Masters Theses

Gender dynamics in public spaces are important issues to study. Here, I challenge the patriarchy in the built environment because it intensifies the oppressed status of women in modern cities. Listening to women’s concerns is the first step of doing so. Meanwhile, I am aware that different socio-cultural backgrounds would affect women’s attitudes, preferences, and other aspects of public spaces. Thus, the thesis will be discussed in the contexts of mainland China and the United States due to the limitation of my experience.

In this thesis, I want to find out what are the needs of women in public spaces …

Environmental Cues And The Sociospatial Imaginary: An Examination Of Spatial Perception And Meaning-Making In A Gentrifying Neighborhood, Todd Levon Brown

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

What could be more ordinary or pedestrian than two people walking down an urban street and talking about what we see and what we make of it? Yet this simple, quotidian act of walking a street—seeing, perceiving and experiencing physical spaces, places and objects—and making meaning of what is encountered, is the basis of my dissertation. It is also my basis for claiming that I have learned a great deal—and much unexpectedly—about how differently different people see and interpret the urban streetscape. What are the various environmental cues that stand out to different individuals? What are the psychosocial imaginaries that …

Difficulties Building Low-Income Housing And The View Of One Company: A Case Study, Kyle Henriken

Construction Management

This case study investigates low-income housing and why it can be more difficult to build compared to other construction projects. Five individuals of PREMIER Design + Build Group were interviewed and gave their opinions on the subject. Each person interviewed has a different role in the company a market leader, project manager, superintendent, and a project engineer to gain a more diverse view on low-income housing. These interviews were semi-structured and open ended to create dialogue about their experiences in affordable housing. This paper investigates a single project called The Cottages located in Lake Elsinore CA. This process found that …

Outsourcing Vdc Workflows, Kyle K. Bresnahan

Construction Management

In an increasingly demanding world for infrastructure, technological methods have been found to assist construction project's. As innovative construction methods are constantly increasing, so is the demand for technological needs within the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. To ensure technological adoption, many countries have started to mandate higher levels of building information modeling (BIM) documentation beyond the 2D construction documents traditionally required throughout construction review and permitting. Some companies have capitalized on this change to the extent of making BIM their primary business. These companies focus solely on virtual design and construction (VDC) and determine whether clients lacking this …

Design And Culture: A Transdisciplinary History, Maurice Barnwell

Purdue University Press Book Previews

Design and Culture: A Transdisciplinary History offers an inclusive overview that crosses disciplinary boundaries and helps define the next phase of global design practice. This book examines the interaction of design with advances in technology, developments in science, and changing cultural attitudes. It looks to the past to prepare for the future and is the first book to offer an innovative transdisciplinary design history that integrates multidisciplinary sources of knowledge into a mindful whole. It shows design as a process that expresses goals through values and beliefs, functioning as a major factor in contemporary cultural life.

Starting with the development …

Compromised Values: Charlotte Posenenske, 1966–Present, Ian Wallace

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Fabricated in unlimited series and sold at cost, the sculptures produced by Charlotte Posenenske between 1966 and 1967—modular wall reliefs, interactive cubic structures, and tubular geometric units whose installation requires collective decision making—were meant to confront both the artwork’s commodity status and the limitation of its consumption to a privileged elite. Nevertheless, Posenenske’s work has been effectively recuperated by the art system: first, in the 1980s, through a series of exhibitions and publications organized by her estate; and second, with her inclusion in Documenta 12 in 2007, which reintroduced her work to the market. Since the artist’s death in 1985, …

Inevitable Associations: Art, Institution, And Cultural Intersection In Los Angeles, 1973–1988, Liz Hirsch

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Inevitable Associations: Art, Institution, and Cultural Intersection in Los Angeles, 1973-1988 considers alternative institutions and cultural intersections in bicentennial-era Los Angeles. I look at the spatial, social, and artistic convergence of Los Angeles artists rarely seen as allied, through close examination of alternative cultural infrastructure that came out of a federal jobs program called the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) and cohered around a building located at 240 South Broadway in downtown. I use the model of association—alliance through shared purpose—to demonstrate moments of convergence and interconnection. Through an analysis of the formation of Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), …

The Integration Of Art, Architecture, And Identity: Alfred Kastner, Louis Kahn, And Ben Shahn At Jersey Homesteads, Daniel S. Palmer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

During the New Deal, the United States government created the Jersey Homesteads co-operative in order to help a group of Jewish immigrant garment workers from New York City during the economic downturn of the Great Depression. This dissertation examines how a 1930s utopian enclave utilized modernist art and architecture to express the radical back-to-the-land agrarian idealism and socialist ideology of its settlers. The flat-roofed, concrete buildings that housed these Jewish garment workers were designed by German architect Alfred Kastner (1900-1975), with his then unknown assistant Louis I. Kahn (1901-1974). These unornamented, functionalist buildings adapted avant-garde European architectural forms into an …

The Retrieval Of Memory: Holding Time In The Shanghai Gasometers, Liman Wei

Masters Theses

Shanghai was primarily an industrial city from the 19th century to the 20th century. By serving as a carrier of time, the past industrial architecture in Shanghai is invested with the collective memory of its past inhabitants. Now that Shanghai has entered the post-industrial period, according to the Shanghai 2035 Urban Plan, the Yangshupu Industrial Zone will be transformed into a new Central Activity Zone. As a result of this plan, old residential neighborhoods nearby will be demolished and replaced by new high-rise residential buildings. The relationship between old residential areas and industrial buildings will be uprooted. Memories of industry …

Terminal: Through The "Windows" Of A Tram Car Museum, Yuyi Si

Masters Theses

The typical city museum is more concerned with the city’s past: focused on founding myths or historical events. The content is frozen and lacks engagement. Simultaneously, the city itself develops rapidly and shifts, just as the citizens move and change. To address this disconnection, it is necessary to create an active city museum that joins place, memory, and people by putting museum learning in context throughout the city and engaging audiences in their daily lives.

Dalian in Liaoning Province, China, is recognized as a historical and tourism district with a unique city fabric and collection of architectural styles. The city …