Architecture Commons^™

The City Aetherus An Urban Design Methodology For Energy Use, Anthony Yan, Ermal Shpuza Phd

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

In the last few decades, there has been a growing awareness about the relationship between building design and energy use, environmental impact, and sustainability in general. Now, environmental design is a well-established field of architectural studies and practices. By contrast, it is only recently that the relationship between urban design and energy use has started to get due attention by the designer and planning communities. Due to our increasing energy needs and imminent global urbanization, humanity needs a solution to tackle the largest energy consumer: the city. This thesis is situated within the newly emerging discourse on the relationship between …

Primary Focus, Breck Small

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis proposes a new construction method that looks beyond the physical needs of a community to train and equip unskilled laborers to continue expanding their own build environment. In areas where electricity along with running water are sparse and construction materials are expensive in contrast to average income, this method of construction will look at the manipulation of indigenous materials, climate, and passive systems to design a project that is both respectful to the surrounding community and innovative in its final design. This method could be replicated in sites with similar context, training unskilled labors to build structures in …

Guaya Symbiosis, Diana Gil

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Located two degrees from the equator, west of the Amazon rain forest, and perched between the Guayas River and the Pacific Ocean, an Ecuadorian city named Guayaquil is home to the most bio-diverse environment in the world. In Red Book of Endemic Plants of Ecuador (2000), biologist Lorena Endara’s research was cataloged providing evidence that Ecuador has the highest concentration of species biodiversity. Based on this seminal report, the Ecuadorian government amended its constitution so the Red Book would be accepted as a governmental document, which was an important step for conservation planning and policy (2012). Unfortunately, the uncontrollable urban …

Exploring Park Quality In Urban Setting With Environmental Justice, Alternative Measurements, And Social Interaction, Shuolei Chen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

With rapid urbanization, urban green resources, such as parks have become important assets for quality of life in urban settings. Parks provide urban residents with both physical and psychological health benefits through various mechanisms such as physical activity and social interaction. Quality is an important non-spatial dimension of urban parks and has started to gain attention among researchers. To better understand park quality in an urban setting, additional knowledge should be explored. This dissertation studies the quality of urban parks from three different perspectives: 1) the equal distribution of park quality resources and its relationship to environmental justice issues, 2) …

Rural Sustainability In The Intermountain West, Mary L. Oliver

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Assessing the sustainability of communities is important for planners and citizens alike. Sustainability plays a central role in forming healthy, successful communities and in planning for responsible growth and development. Most current sustainability evaluations favor urban environments due to their high densities and resulting efficiencies, leaving rural areas labeled “unsustainable” because of their decentralized growth patterns. Characterized as “not urban,” they fall short of urban sustainability benchmarks (Isserman, 2005). The importance of rural sustainability to both small communities and regions leads to the question: how can rural sustainability be characterized and assessed?

This study applies a comparative assessment model to …

Blazing A Trail For The Future Of Paris, Texas, Ashton Wunsch

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Temporal Mindset : Retrofitting Senior Living, Christine Vu

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis started by looking at malls that were no longer being used and the issued that developed with the decline of these places. I thought of how architecture could benefit and improve the quality of these spaces and the site.

The total population of the United States is approximately 325 million people. Out of the 325 million, approximately 53 million people will be over the age of 65. Between 1946 and 1964, the Baby Boomer generation increased more than any other generation. That generation is now reaching an age where the need for senior living options are more in …

Piecing Minds : Creating A Healing Space For Mental Health In The West End Neighborhood, Jeromette Belcher

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Throughout history mental health has been an issue. Mental health has been labeled from a disease, to treatment, and to facility design. There have been design theories that have been looked at throughout the centuries such as anthroposohy, evidence-based design, generative design, planetree, salutogenic design, and specialist design. There has been facilities designed for people dealing with mental health such as residential, impatient, and outpatient. But, the impact of the environment on mental health plays a significant factor. Specifically, in the lower income neighborhoods which have a lot more issues in mental health that they face than people living in …

Forest Evolution, Mengying Li

Fall 2019 Confluence: St. Louis and Hinterlands

The forest we enjoy today is very different from the forest 100 years ago in Missouri. Forests have undergone excessive cutting during the 19th century. After that, US and state governments implemented forest regeneration programs that ensure harvests for the future. Forest can be a renewable resource if we manage it in a sustainable way. The site is separated into three parts, each part applying different strategy: selective cutting and natural regeneration, selective cutting and replanting, clear cutting and replanting. I will plant far more trees than I remove. I use a 20’ by 20’ grid to visualize the density …

Usu Equine-Assisted Activities And Therapies Facilities Designed Master Plan, Lindsie C. Smith

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Equine-Assisted Activities and Therapies (EAAT) is recognized as a therapeutic approach for persons with disabilities. The USU Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences Department provides EAAT instruction and services; however, they do not have the appropriate facilities to model best-practices in the delivery of these services. This design research entailed the development of a phased masterplan to support the instruction and delivery of equine-assisted activities and therapies in an innovative and accessible environment that supports animal-assisted intervention and natural equine behaviors.

The methodology used to approach the master plan design was derived from Norman K. Booth’s (1990) design process, as described …

A Second Life: The Adaptation Of Dying Italian Towns To Accommodate Immigrants And Refugees, Rachel Rubis

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Despite its efforts in historic preservation, there is an abundance of culturally significant Italian vernacular towns dying due to dilapidation and depopulation. Simultaneously, Italy has faced an ongoing stream of immigrants and refugees seeking work, housing, and asylum within its borders—a crisis that has resulted in Italian fear and animosity aside immigrant maltreatment and hardship. My research, which is supplemented by first-hand experience in Italy, qualitative analysis, and text sources, proposes interventions into dying Italian towns to aid in the resettlement of immigrants and refugees—an effort meant to be mutually beneficial to both the town and the immigrant. In my …

Ultimus: A Cautionary Tale Of Our Future, Ian Jones

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

This thesis is working towards developing a set of representations capable of crafting a cautionary tale of a possible future of the built environment, should we continue to ignore the signs of rapid deterioration across our planet.

The goal is to illuminate the issue of climate change through the lens of architectural propaganda and architectural ruins. By exploring these architectural concepts, the aim is to develop a parafictional method of storytelling that dramatizes and exaggerates the effects of climate change on our built environment. As well as illustrate the effects our built world has had on the Earth’s environment. Additionally, …

Representational Forms: Storytelling Of Climate Change, Hayden Cudaback

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Climate change is recognized as one of the biggest threats to our natural world and its biodiversity, as well as to global security, human health and well-being. We are already witnessing the early effects of climate change, with more frequent, extreme weather events and changing seasonal patterns being seen around the world.

Climate change is a complex object that you can’t physically connect with. Its effects can be felt, but climate change itself is an entity that people can’t understand the depth and magnitude. This characteristic of climate change makes any depiction related to its effects static and two dimensional. …

Migratory Patterns And How They Affect The Relocation Of The Age Cohort 20 To 40 Into Nonmetropolitan Communities Of Nebraska, Mariah Tobin

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Nebraska’s nonmetropolitan communities have been rapidly declining in population. However, recent research has shown an uncharacteristic increase in the population of those age 20 to 40. The survival of nonmetropolitan communities is crucial to the societal ecosystem of America. The people moving into these nonmetropolitan areas believe in rural; they are “Rural by Choice”.

If Nebraska is to keep this way of life alive and thriving, small towns must re-evaluate their communities and strive to meet the demands of today’s globally connected world and the expectations of these younger generations. People are moving into nonmetropolitan areas in search of communities …

Drawings Of A House: Reading Multiple Authorships In Architecture, John Knuteson

Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design Theses & Dissertations

This thesis reconsiders the notion of authorship in architecture by examining the drawings, characters and stories surrounding the W.A. Glasner House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1906 and located in the Chicago suburb of Glencoe, Illinois. The house stands out in Wright’s body of work as his first project to assimilate the dominant horizontality of the prairie style with complex topography, and for its unusual residential program. Perhaps more importantly, the process by which the Glasner House was designed, drawn and modified reveals a critical way of viewing authorship in architecture by introducing the contributions of multiple different characters. …

The Meeting Of Water, Trash, & Us, Xue Ying

Fall 2019 Confluence: St. Louis and Hinterlands

The sewer system is an integral part of an urban context. It separates types of wastewater, while also making our city cleaner and more beautiful. However, these pipes clog and back up, loosening the functional system. As a result, we now face unseen daily accumulations of trash and flooding. Due to the dynamic topography in this old part of the city, the Gateway Mall is a great place to highlight the sewer system and play play with the rules of the old sewer system. Humans have built up thousands of plastic and concrete pipes underground to move the wastewater. In …

Partition & Connection, Lei Liu

Fall 2019 Confluence: St. Louis and Hinterlands

Shipping, the transportation of materials goods, is a worldwide industry that influences everyone’s life. Shipping is part of our lives. We consume large amounts of material goods, but this process also implies a huge transportation process. This is significant because the emission of carbon dioxide from shipping also contributes to climate change. On average each, person in St. Louis is responsible for enough carbon emissions to fill 3 largest size containers, by volume. Additionally, railways and highways divide our cities. These are connectors but also dividers, and I am choosing my location year railroads. My site is also near the …

Beyond Coal: Facing Our Landscape Legacy & Seeing Our Renewable Future, Danni Hu

Fall 2019 Confluence: St. Louis and Hinterlands

Beyond Coal is a park design project located at the Gateway Mall in St. Louis. Coal has been an essential source of power generation since the 1800s. Coal is a non-renewable resource and causes environmental pollution in the process of using coal to generate electricity. Since the 21st century, there has been a shift from coal to renewable resources. In Missouri, however, coal still generates more than 70 percent of electricity. Coal ash from power generation is buried underground, threatening soil and groundwater resources. Climate change is further exacerbated by the large amounts of greenhouse gases produced by power generation. …

Steam Illusion, Tianhao Xiang

Fall 2019 Confluence: St. Louis and Hinterlands

Nuclear power plants provide 20% of the electricity in the United States. Heat from Uranium and chain reactions turns water into steam to run the generator. Being close to water is an important element to select the site for nuclear power plants. Most of the water elements are concentrated in east of Gateway Mall. This factor combined with the underground nuclear shelter in 22nd Judicial Circuit Court help me determine my site. The inner design is a microcosm of the nuclear cooling tower, the design can provide a warm atmosphere in the winter for visitors but at that same time …

Zonta International: Unveiling 100 Years Of History & Membership, Jessica E. Nantka

Museum Studies Projects

The purpose of this master’s thesis project is to examine the formidable globalized service organization, Zonta International (ZI), which has impacted women around the world for 100 years. I utilized essential practices in the Museum Studies Master of Arts program at SUNY Buffalo State to create this project in association with an exhibit, Zonta International: Unveiling 100 Years of History & Membership, presented at the Karpeles Manuscript Museum from November 5 – November 23, 2019. The use of digitized images, documents, and artifacts within the Howard D. Beach Photography Studio Collection owned by The Buffalo History Museum, have been …

Zonta International: Unveiling 100 Years Of History & Membership, Jessica E. Nantka

Museum Studies Projects

The purpose of this master’s thesis project is to examine the formidable globalized service organization, Zonta International (ZI), which has impacted women around the world for 100 years. I utilized essential practices in the Museum Studies Master of Arts program at SUNY Buffalo State to create this project in association with an exhibit, Zonta International: Unveiling 100 Years of History & Membership, presented at the Karpeles Manuscript Museum from November 5 – November 23, 2019. The use of digitized images, documents, and artifacts within the Howard D. Beach Photography Studio Collection owned by The Buffalo History Museum, have been …

The Model Holistic : The Application Of The Adaptive Cycle To Rust-Belt Cities, Marysia Larosa

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

For too long, the relationship between the natural and built environment have been ignored, resulting in a disconnect between humanity, nature, and architecture. Can enforcing this relationship change the way we think about urban design and resiliency? Like ecology, cities act much like an ecosystem, going through four phases; exploitation, conservation, release, and reorganization. Over a slow period, these resources are conserved and protected rather than used for innovation. In the case of a disturbance, the vulnerability of the system at this point leads to eventual collapse and release of resources. Finally, as a result of this release, the system …

Model For Play | Creating Environments For Learning Through Playful Exploration, Ana Giron

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Cultivating imagination in early childhood education is a fundamental stage in the development of children. This cultivation is set aside when children reach school age. The traditional classroom has become a workstation environment, where children move from task to task—creating a singular type of student and disregarding the inherent differences of the human condition. Educational experience has become stagnant and repetitive, with little to no room for the development of individual imaginations. The design of the classroom setting is a critical point of exploration—as the mechanism for change in the education of children. This thesis aims to explore the learning …

Bookscapes: A Study In The Interconnectivity Of Landscape And Narrative Visualization And Communication In Landscape Architecture, Tonya Randall

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The fields of landscape architecture and literacy have the potential to be linked through a simulated environment. Through this connection, opportunity for education arises. This thesis creates and describes a program called Bookscapes, which presents a narrative inside a simulated landscape for the purpose of communicating landscape architecture/urban planning principles.

Bookscapes is a stand-alone computer program designed using theories in education and guidelines for virtual and restorative environments (including Huang’s elements, Kaplan’s Attention Restoration Theory for restorative environments, constructivist theory of situational learning) and the revolving design process in landscape architecture’s communication to clients through 3D modeling.

This thesis first …

Implementing Lean Six Sigma Principles In The Automotive Collision Repair Industry: A Three Case Study Analysis, Matthew A. Houseworth

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research provides the automotive collision industry empirical evidence of the effects of Lean-for-Collision Training and Development Initiatives facilitated by a targeted sample of three automotive collision repair centers. Through formal interview and review of artifacts, the findings showcased in this study are in terms of automotive collision industry metrics; a balance in cost, quality, and service delivery, specifically, vehicle cycle-time, vehicle touch-time, employee turnover, and the Return-on-Investment (ROI) of their Lean training. In addition, this research provides automotive collision centers with critical knowledge and understanding of how to successfully navigate and progress through the Framework for Six Sigma Implementation …

The Effects Of Bioinspired Infill Designs And Density On The Compressive Strength Of Parts Produced By Additive Manufacturing Via Fused Deposition Modeling, Joseph D. Long

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current state of additive manufacturing (AM) is still primarily used for prototyping and modeling. However, with the increase in available materials and more advanced machines, AM is beginning to become a production process in which ready-to-ship products are being manufactured. This makes it all the more important to effectively and efficiently use the material in AM machines. One of the ways that material usage can be improved upon is more efficiently structuring the infill material that is used. This dissertation reports on the testing and statistical analysis of the compressive modulus of elasticity, the compressive proportional limit, and the …

Evaluation Of The Dynamic Behavior Of Steel Staircases With Concrete Filled Pan Treads, Tyler Sondag

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

Vibration serviceability of staircases has been a growing challenge for structural engineers due to changing materials and structural forms. In order to prevent or correct serviceability problems due to structural vibrations, structural engineers should be able to predict the dynamic performance of a staircase structure. However, there are few technical guides available for designing steel staircases, and the ones that do exist are often limited in their applications. Currently, there is a lack of research on staircases that are less prone to vibrations, such as staircases with concrete filled pans that are composed of face and wall stringers. Therefore, the …

Solving Pollution Through Design Integration: A Sustainable Model For Underdeveloped Mexican Cities, Marcos Cruz

Master of Science in Architecture Theses

Oaxaca requires an architecture that can cleanse the environment, provide affordable and clean energy, and mitigate the crime and poverty within their city. Community awareness is key to the development of this architecture, and this project will focus on creating a design that influences and informs the community about a safer and more sustainable way of life. This project will focus on using the United Nations sustainability goals to address the global challenges we face including poverty, climate, and inequality. This thesis will create a building that will integrate these goals while still maintaining the cultural aspect within the region. …

Ten Questions Concerning Well-Being In The Built Environment, Sergio Altomonte, Joseph Allen, Philomena M. Bluyssen, Gail Brager, Lisa Heschong, Angela Loder, Stefano Schiavon, Jennifer A. Veitch, Lily M. Wang, Pawel Wargocki

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Well-being in the built environment is a topic that features frequently in building standards and certification schemes, in scholarly articles and in the general press. However, despite this surge in attention, there are still many questions on how to effectively design, measure, and nurture well-being in the built environment. Bringing together experts from academia and the building industry, this paper aims to demonstrate that the promotion of well-being requires a departure from conventional agendas. The ten questions and answers have been arranged to offer a range of perspectives on the principles and strategies that can better sustain the consideration of …

Bs News May/June

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.