Architecture Commons^™

The New Urban Artifact, Ricardo Rodriguez Huerta

Architecture Thesis Prep

This is a study of the architectural and historical construct of the Urban Artifact. For the purposes of this exploration, an Urban Artifact is to be understood as the physical manifestation of the city and its collective memory. It is the product of the history and character of its place and the embodiment of an idea of its type and the memory of its lineage. In contrast to the fixed intention and permanence of a monument, an Urban Artifact has its own autonomy and value gained over time until it ultimately becomes also identified as a monument. These concepts, defined …

Mirage: Architecture's Confounding Experiences, Nuofan Xu, Ziyao Zhang

Architecture Thesis Prep

The thesis explores the experiences created from mixing architecture elements with projections, in order to make projections melt into architecture as an inseparable element. By proposing an architecture that integrates the effects and infrastructures of digital displays at the start point of the design process, the project seeks to explore digital displays’ ability to blur physical boundaries, to apply temporality on eternal structures and isolate the exterior from the interior.

The project uses mirage, an optical phenomenon which produces illusory images of distant objects, as an analogy to speculate digital displays in architecture. On one hand, mirage shows an ordinary …

Finding A New Center: A Study Of Neo-Industrial America, Juliet Domine, Virginia Paulk

Architecture Thesis Prep

Globalization moved manufacturing in America overseas, leaving the middle of the country with forgotten industrial zones. As a result, the edges of the country, with greater access to international markets, have flourished, creating a distinct divide between the middle and the edge. Moving out of the post-industrial era into the current age of the neo-industrial, revitalization of the middle can occur by reintroducing industry utilizing previous skill sets needed for agriculture and manufacturing. We are arguing that the center of the United States can be made relevant again through the programmatic revitalization of post-industrial sites. The Mississippi River is historically …

Public Space With Character: A Late, Late Entry To The Chicago Central Public Library Competition, Kokeith Perry Ii

Architecture Thesis Prep

The city of Chicago has a complex relationship with the aesthetics of civic monuments and infrastructures. The cities most canonical projects validate its apparent biases - an oscillation between iconic modern and postmodern figures proliferate the urban fabric. The dynamic between these two paradigms creates a complex relationship between architecture, urban space, and the public mirroring the cities longstanding and complex history of segregated urban space and peoples. This project draws precedent from the format of the 1980 Stanley Tigerman exhibition Late entries to the Chicago Tribune Tower Competition, a then-radical competition set to reinvigorate the discipline the way the …

Crude Urbanism, Ahnaf Chowdhury, Anuradha Desai

Architecture Thesis Prep

Mumbai’s formal and informal components operate in interdependence. Matter from the formal is absorbed by the informal, where it is hacked, recycled and repurposed. The output, now lucrative, is spat back into the formal. For example, the city’s trash is collected, sorted and prepared by the informal as a commodity that is sold back into the formal. This cycle creates crucial nodes, where the formal relies heavily on the informal for its flexible and resilient systems.

Though these systems may be independent and engrained in Mumbai’s economy, the worker’s relation to the system’s matter reveals needs that the informal sector …

The Cultural Mosaic: Knowledge, Conflict And The Power Of Place, Shanaya Girdharlal

Architecture Thesis Prep

This thesis explores how contemporary architecture can recreate the authentic experience of a historical site by intervening in a historical context such that both historical continuity and contemporary additions manifest in a symbiotic and didactic way.

The project examines how the history of a place is represented and reflected logistically, and how it materially manifests in its built form. In the context of Rajasthan, identification means to acknowledge the ruling past, to embrace its traditions, crafts, and architecture, and to create a contemporary language for the site based on past evidence. The thesis tries to establish a historical continuum using …

Surfaces Of Exchange: Formulating Connections And Experiences In The Physical And Digital Landscape, Brooke Calhoun, Ross Hanson

Architecture Thesis Prep

The means and modes through which people and places have connected has drastically altered within the recent past. At the global scale, as recent as the mid 1800’s, the cross-cultural exchange of information was rare and occurred only through person-to-person connections. Expositions such as the Great Exhibition hosted in London at the Crystal Palace in 1851 is a clear example of how cultures communicated in our recent past. Information, machines, animals, plants, all the above, was removed from its natural habitat and placed on display in front of an audience; a one-point perspective through which one culture would understand another. …

Embracing The American Atlantis: Designing For A Post-Disaster New Orleans, Mikayla Beckwith, Katherine Truluck

Architecture Thesis Prep

In the year 2100, New Orleans is flooded and reduced to a fraction of its previous grandeur. The rising sea level has reduced the city to an archipelago settled between the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Through the implementation of a transportation and program core system, the archipelago of territories is reconnected and the programmatic organization of the land is redistributed. This project combines architectural, infrastructural, and utopian case studies to move beyond the mitigation of water and instead create a new condition that adapts to the water in a more symbiotic fashion. Through this intervention, New Orleans …

Building Translations: Narratives On Bizarre Preservation, Alexandra Allen, Scott Michael Krabath

Architecture Thesis Prep

In today’s globalized society, we’re confronted with a flood of images and data at a speed that strains our ability to fully process the information. This messy network often gives way to misreading’s and poor interpretations. In the architectural discipline, a suspension of critical disbelief is necessary to accommodate the lack of fidelity, clarity or resolution that exists in many of the documents we encounter.

We contend that there’s a productive tension between the object and its mediated representation and that the translations that occur between the two are embedded within the way that architects communicate with one another.

Robin …

Speculative Spoliation: Spolia As An Instrument Of Locus Making & Identity Mediation, Amelia Gan Wen Jiun

Architecture Thesis Prep

In this thesis, spolia is defined as the repurposing of found artifacts or material with ingrained place identities to new building matter in novel contexts. This includes architecture remnants or fragments from sites of historical ruins, urban derelicts and artifacts currently displayed in museums.

Architecture's impermanence results in demolishment, reconstruction, or exhibition of its fragments in museums or ruin parks. Attempts at preservation often only look at the surface-level significance of these artifacts without allowing for the addition of meanings over time. While displaying an artifact in a museum or turning ruins into tourist parks directly addresses the history of …

City Of Brick: Spatial And Material Explorations In 21st Century Urbanism, William Collins

Architecture Thesis Prep

The project I’m proposing, City of Brick: Spatial and Material Explorations in 21st Century Urbanism, will analyze the problem of and propose an alternative to the supertall residential tower in the contemporary city. Th ere is a trend in American cites toward the construction of ‘prestige’ projects, namely, skyscrapers of luxury apartments purchased as investments. Th is phenomenon is well-documented in the spacious floorplans of these towers; for example, 432 Park Avenue in New York City, though it is the tallest residential building in North America, only contains 104 units. My proposal seeks to provide a counter to the ultraluxury …

Political Archipelago: Repoliticizing Post-Umbrella Revolution Hong Kong, Dora Yui Kei Lo

Architecture Thesis Prep

This project aims to re-politicize the public sphere of post-Umbrella Revolution Hong Kong. Umbrella Revolution was one of the latest defining events of democratic struggles in Hong Kong. Like other protests, civil disobedience, and revolutions, the Umbrella Revolution was more than just “organized public dissents”; it was an experiment of an alternative democratic sphere for agonistic struggles. The occupation temporarily altered, reoriented, disoriented or debilitated the existing boundaries and thresholds in the city; it resisted the logic of the city to create a space of exception. However, these temporary alterations did not leave significant permanent imprints to the city. In …

Political Archipelago: Repoliticizing Post-Umbrella Revolution Hong Kong, Dora Yui Kei Lo

Architecture Thesis Prep

This project aims to re-politicize the public sphere of post-Umbrella Revolution Hong Kong. Umbrella Revolution was one of the latest defining events of democratic struggles in Hong Kong. Like other protests, civil disobedience and revolutions, Umbrella Revolution was more than just “organized public dissents”; it was an experiment of an alternative democratic sphere for agonistic struggles. The occupation temporarily altered, reoriented, disoriented or debilitated the existing boundaries and thresholds in the city; it resisted the logic of the city to create a space of exception. However, these temporary alterations did not leave significant permanent imprints to the city. At the …

Bridge: Fantasy Of The Demilitarized Zone, Lan Li, Yifei Li

Architecture Senior Theses

Architecture can do many things and solve many problems of the local condition. For example, skyscrapers meet high demands of housing and offices; sustainable green buildings are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient. When it comes to bigger topics like dealing with social and cultural conflicts which influenced by national and political decisions, the usual architecture types may not resolve or help as much as expected. So, for dealing with these topics, we find that architecture has limitations. However, when we look through other fields like art, we can find an opportunities to address them. For example, Ben Shahn was American artist, …

Subaltern Virtuality: Virtual Hegemony And Domestic Architecture In Postcolonial World, Nusrat Jahan Mim

Architecture Senior Theses

Antonio Gramsci coined the term “subaltern” to reveal the presence of small social groups of people on the fringes of history. Subaltern can be perceived as negative space or position of disempowerment, a position without social or political agency, and access to the power or hegemony. Today the emergence of ubiquitous computing, virtual social network, and globalized image culture has created a new group of subalterns in the virtual world. Amounts of tweets, likes, views, shares etc. have started to appear as a dominating factor in determining the “status” of a person in the virtual world and hence, have created …

A “Self-Made Town”: Semi-Annual Furniture Expositions And The Development Of Civic Identity In Grand Rapids, 1878–1965, Scott St. Louis

Peer Reviewed Articles

In the later decades of the nineteenth century, prominent business figures in the city of Grand Rapids had reason to be both ambitious and optimistic. Striving to pull every last cent of profit out of available resources, they rationalized production workflows and integrated the latest technologies into their factories. They also perceptively discerned that a maturing railroad network connecting Grand Rapids to an emerging Victorian consumer economy would empower the city to achieve new levels of prosperity and fame through an industry on the verge of unprecedented growth: domestic furniture production.

These entrepreneurs acted upon their hopes for the community’s …

Volcano: Tools + Projections, Sang Ha Jung, Young Joon Yun

Architecture Thesis Prep

The core of this project is the idea of humankind as a geological force. By imagining the active ground in relation to the creation of new ground and environment, this thesis seeks to reclaim the formal language of the geological through volcanism. As we create a series of spaces within this new ground, using lava as our natural tool for architecture, the goal is to create architecture and landscape that reconciles the geological and the biological, merging the natural and the artificial. Architecture can be formed naturally, like a stone built over time, through sedimentation and erosion. This idea of …

Living In The Shrinking City: Making A Case For An Urban Resurgence In Syracuse, Sou Fang

Architecture Senior Theses

The focus of this thesis is the City of Syracuse. Understood as a city undergoing population decline since the 1950s, this thesis attempts to engage with the effects of city shrinkage by evaluating the socio­-economic and material reality of the city. This project challenges the pedagogy of architecture to both broaden and be very explicit on how its disciplinary questions enter the frame of discussion surrounding the shrinking city discourse. The aim of the research / investigation and analysis (phase 1) is to understand the underlying principles, characteristics and effects of city shrinkage in the case of the City of …

Reshaping Reality: From Disneyland To Dismaland, Lina Wang

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis deals with hyperreality as a key concept to reassess contemporary socio-cultural conditions. Jean Baudrillard once described Disneyland as one of the main examples of hyperreality. By presenting imaginary as more realistic than reality itself, Disneyland draws visitors into the world of escapism and happiness achieved through simulation; it makes the troubles of the real world less relatable. If we wear glasses to view Disneyland more closely, however, we might see many issues behind it. Dismaland is an important reference in this thesis. When asked about the idea and inspiration for his Dismaland project, Banksy stated, "theme parks should …

The Future Is Now Science Club, Shane Stan

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

The Future is Now! What will our planet look like in 10, 20, 50, or even 100 years? Where will we live, what will we eat, how will we travel? Believe it or not, in the coming decades, many ideas that were once science fiction will come through to realization. With this, many of the discoveries and technologies making all of this happen are being developed right now as we go about our daily lives.

In this club, appropriately titled, The Future Is Now Science Club, students will be inspired to think larger about the present world they live in. …

Syllabus, Assignments, & Selected Handouts (Fiqws-Writing / Architecture), Tim Dalton

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus and its related course materials draw on readings, videos, and multimodal texts to teach rhetoric and argumentation to first-year writers through a varied exploration of questions of design, aesthetics, and access.

Note: This course was paired with a course in the architecture program.

Qendër Kulturore, Burhan Mehmeti

Theses and Dissertations

Derisa vetëdijësimi i shoqërisë është segmenti më i rëndësishëm i çdo vendi, mbetet detyrë e përhershme e institucioneve kompetente që t’i thellojnë hulumtimet rreth dukurive të ndryshme që e shoqërojnë sistemin kulturor në vend.Në këtë kontekst, edhe punimi në vazhdim synon t’i identifikojë shkaqet kryesore dhe më me peshë që ndikojnë në ofrimin e ambienteve sa me komode për zhvillim të aktiviteteve kulturo-artistike, në mënyrë që të ndikohet në ndryshime pozitive në këtë aspekt. Bukuritë fizike të shqiptarit gërshetuar me ato të natyrës, ambientit ku ai jeton, qëndron e gjallëron përballë stuhive të shumta të jetës fuqizohen edhe me veshjet …

Fust Museum, Benart Shala

Theses and Dissertations

-The fust museum, is a synthesis, a bond of specific timelines, derived by it’s own name (Future-Past-FUST). What is a void, or void space ? How can we percept it ? What is the best way to relive history? Why do we have to relive it ? Is history only a tool that helps us construct or form the future? These question went through my mind, while working on this thesis. With fust museum i want to express the effect of the butterfly, by reliving these 3 different timeline’s through an chronological order (the world war 2, cold war and …

Kopsht Fëmijësh, Florent Tmava

Theses and Dissertations

Qëllimi i kësaj teme është që të zhvillohet një tipologji e kopshtit të fëmijëve që të jetë si qasje e dizjanit të qerdheve, e cila artikulon nevojat emocionale, e jo vetëm ato fizike dhe edukative. Me zhvillimin e kësaj tipologjije do të krijohet një mjedis edukativ i cili mund të ndikoj dhe ndihmoj në zhvillimin e potencialeve të fëmijëve. Në këtë temë do të zhvillojmë të gjitha komponentet që e përbëjnë një ndërtim edukativ, që produkti final t’i plotësoi të gjitha nevojat themelore e deri te ato që arrin dimenzioni e katert (4) në arkitekturë që është përjetimi, që ndërlidhet …

Banim Individual, Egzona Totaj

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Universiteti I Arkitekturës Në Pejë, Taulant Kukaj

Theses and Dissertations

Pasi që Republika e Kosoves është shtet në tranzicion si element përbërës esencial I zhvillimit të shtetit tonë është edhe sistemi arsimorë, edukativë dhe kulturor. E gjitha fillon me vetëdijesimin e popullit për kët gjë, duke ju kushtuar shumë rendesi kushteve në të cilat pergaditemi si nxënës, student pasi që tek ne gjenden vetëm kushtet minimale për arsim si në atë të ulët të mesëm dhe të lartë. Prishtina si kryeqytet I ka disa përparsi karshi këtyre kushteve por janë lënë anash edhe qytete tjera të mëdha të Kosovës p.sh Peja, Gjakova, Prizreni etj te cilat kan universitete por saj …

Zhvillimi I Sherbimeve Turistike “Hotel”, Rrona Gacaferi

Theses and Dissertations

Të jetosh në një qytet të rrethuar nga malet, do të thotë ta ngresh kokën lartë ngado që ecën, të magjepsesh nga pamja piktoreske, të të vijë vullneti e dëshira ta ftosh gjithë botën ta shoh, e ta përjetoj dhe ta vlersojë bashkë me ty gjithë këtë pamje e potencial që ka. Në anën tjetër të jetosh në një qytet që krahas këtyre tipareve, ka hapësira të cilat paraqesin rrezik për banor apo turistë, të shtyn të punosh dhe të mundohesh që te zhvillohet tutje dhe të bëhet një qytet i qetë, i sigurt, dhe atraktiv për vendasit dhe vizitorët. …

Resort, Nuhi Lutfiu

Theses and Dissertations

Ndër faktorët kryesor për ndërtimin të këtij projekti është fluks i madh i turistëve anembar Kosovës te cilët me një kureshtje të madhe e vizitojn cdo vjet ne stinën e dimrit këtë bukuri të rallë natyrore qe posedon Kosova.Po ashtu nuk është vetëm një vizit e thjesht por kjo ndodh për shkak se me të vërtet Brezovica është më e veqant krahasim me vendet të tjera pasi që gjenden shum pista të skijimit,lartësia e maleve,dendësia me lisa dhe klima perfekte gjatë sezonës së dimrit e bënë këtë pjesë një atraksion shumë të mirë turistik jo vetëm nga Kosova por edhe …

Objekti I Komunës Në Deçan, Ardit Shehu

Theses and Dissertations

Qëllimi kryesor i kësaj Teme të Diplomës,qëndron në projektimin dhe dizajnimin e një objekti administrativ siç është Objekti i Komunës,duke marrë për bazë rregulloren e projektimit të këtyre llojeve të objekteve në Arkitekturë si dhe kushteve rregullative të komunës ku objekti është paramenduar të vendoset.Projektimi i objekteve administrative në përgjithësi në ditët e sotme,duhet të bazohet në dizajn modern arkitektural,sepse dita-ditës administrate po e humb rëndësinë,që dikur e ka pasur,pasi që me zhvillimin e teknologjisë dhe avancimin e pajisjeve teknologjike adekuate konsumatori,pra në këtë rast qytetari i thjeshtë mund të pajiset shumë lehtë në mënyrë elektronike me dokumentet që i …

V.1 Fall 2018, Center For Arts & Language, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

All Student Newspapers

v.1 is a publishing platform for the ongoing work, ideas, discussions, debates, and aspirations of students at the Rhode Island School of Design. The Fall 2018 issue contains articles on art writing and the place of the self, student reflections on politics, practice, and dogma across generations. Articles look back on historic manuscripts, to past projects and recent events, and forward. This issue's content presents the various expressions of truth that artists and designers work within.