Architecture Commons^™

Fault, Katharine Fritz

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

3,000 people died, 80% of the city was destroyed. On the morning of April 18, 1906 an estimated 7.9 magnitude earthquake echoed through the city of San Francisco. Waterlines, having been destroyed during the quake, resulted in a fire that engulfed the city and burned for 3 days after.Its epicenter was 3 miles off the coast of city surging waves of destruction from this center, this is the site of the first phased memorials designed along the San Andreas Fault system. This kinetic landscape of the San Andreas Fault stretches the length of californias coast continuously destroying and taking lives, …

Revival On The Stronghold, Katherine Evans

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This proposal is an architectural landscape that commemorates a cultural history while providing a cultural understanding for others of the unjust actions against Native Americans throughout history. Through a series of spaces sited in the South Unit of the Badlands, South Dakota for the Oglala people of the Pine Ridge Reservation, this proposal will be an experiential and spiritual journey echoing the religious practice of the Ghost Dance, which contributed to the Wounded Knee Massacre killing 250 Native Americans in 1890. The Ghost Dance was a ritual practiced and believed to encourage the coming Messiah to save the Native Americans, …

Repercussions, Rebecca Small

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

A redesign of the existing ferry system between the 5 boroughs with the addition of eco parks.

Bio-Architecture Feedback Loop, Nicole Samuelu

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Biomimicry is the imitation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. There is an incredible opportunity for architecture to use biomimicry as a model for design in which a resulting architecture can become an operating part of its environment. While this project will consider the efficiency and beauty of nature, those elements will not be the focus. This thesis will aim to create a more cohesive relationship between architecture and its environment by treating the human-made structures as if they were a participating member of its habitat and part of the …

Meandering Structures | A Theatrical Take On Sonorous Environments, Jamilah-Renay Bouges

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This project studies the distinct patterns of sound created by specific activities on our day to day lives. Ways in which these sounds travel and impact the receptor will directly influence how this project performs and reacts to a given source's stimuli. Once this is understood, the environment of the final proposal will be more easily manipulated into a reflective and absorptive form which molds itself in order to provide more adequate clarity to its audience. This flexible form is applied as an interior skin for a travelling theater supplying a myriad of performing arts and musical acts as determined …

Cardinal Divide: Inverting The Stigma Of Borders As Dividers, Evan Murray

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The United States border delineation with Mexico has always been at the center of controversial thinking. The proposal for a wall intended to seperate the two nations is tied to ideological differences and comes with connotations of sectarianism and intolerance. While reasons do exist to consider and implement border policies that protect against illegal immigration, constucting a wall becomes a physical manifestation of those aformentioned connotations. One region along the 2,000 miles stretch of border is a perfect model of strong border relations. The dichotomy of San Diego and Tijuana is proof of the strength gained from integrated border logistics. …

Civil Architecture: The Neglected Youths (Adaptive Re-Use And Sustainability), Victor Chibuzo

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Civil architecture for the neglected youths is an attempt to address a social issue of the growing homelessness youth population through architecture in Atlanta Georgia region. Architecture establishes a platform to influence the way in which we interact with one another; However the commercial architecture of the 21st century has forged a boundary that encourages segregation of economic classes. These issues are apparent in gentrified areas. Characteristics of most of these gentrified communities include: sustainable designs, high standard of living, safety, etc. Sustainable designs can provide long run savings and cost-effectiveness in home energy usage but are mostly applied in …

"Auto-": A Design Strategy For The Autistic Child, Holly Pagel

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis aims to explore autism and the architecture of autism. Research focuses on the biological hyper- and hyposensitivities related to autism. The project manifest as a best option elementary school for children with autism living in Atlanta, GA.

Beyond Flat Space: Representing Architecture In Virtual Reality, Holden Holley

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

As architects, most of us go through years of training and experience just to read and draw plans, sections, and elevations. As students, we are taught how to read a plan and dissect the information we need to understand the spatial relationships. There are many times, however, that a plan doesn’t really tell us what experiencing this space is like. And how is the untrained client supposed to understand how this space really works? Isn’t that our job as architects, to represent our designs well enough to our clients that we communicate to them everything necessary for understanding this space …

Architecture Of Adaptation: Structure In Nature, Salman Sajwani

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The concept of a piece of architecture taking on adaptive qualities is based on the ability that a system can effectively respond to the environment and the evolving programs. Architects strive to create designs that respond to external changes, creating a challenge with kinetic and the immovable aspects of a building, which can be identified as the systems of walls, ceilings, and columns. This system however, creates the foundation of a successful built environment but also hinders the adaptive and flexible qualities. These systems are implemented permanently and confined to the site and program that has been defined to them. …

Undeveloping The City, John Jones

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

What will the city of the future look like? This thesis investigates the ongoing growth of the city of Atlanta and proposes design strategies that responsibly manage future growth with an ecological mindset. The current metropolitan area occupies thousands of square miles of land with low-density development that blankets many natural ecosystems with little consideration to the impact of this sprawl. By utilizing the applications of transit oriented development and low-impact design, a section of the city can be used as a test bench for responsible future development. This growth would need to be managed from a two-sided approach: retracting …

Reawakening Quality In Architecture: A Contemporary Idiom Of Pattern Language, Christopher D. Richardson

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

“Life peeks out of a thousand masks, One of these is architecture.”

As technology advances forward architecture has continuously tried to find its place within the production of each new technology. This has led to thinking of architecture as causalities as an attempt to make it closer to a production line of efficient outputs. This has caused the problem a lack of evocation, the poetics, connection to memory, the idea of mind, body, and spirit being captured in the design.

This inquiry began by looking at a missed opportunity within Christopher Alexander’s work A Pattern Language. Pattern Language introduced the …

Verge Of Erosion: Adaption To The Coastal Climatic Change, Jamison Barger

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Today the question of coastal erosion and the devastation that it brings is no longer a matter of if, but when.

This project aims at developing an adaptive approach towards design in attempt to develop a new coastal typology that adapts to the dynamic condition of coastal erosion, and addresses future projections of sea level rise. The proposal will be applied in Fuveme in the Volta Region of Ghana, West Africa, which is presently on the verge of being wiped out entirely due to a vastly reseeding shoreline. The thesis will center on elements such as the environment, ecology, society, …

Transfused Architecture: Ascent Of A Developing World, Sandy Ferrier

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Because there is a lack of adequate health care facilities in developing countries, there is a substantial amount of unrealized, optimal health gains and effective, architectural interventions which are not fully realized. With 80% of its population living below the world poverty line, Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere. The United Nations Development Program’s 2014 report shows the extents of poverty at 75% mainly in the rural areas of Haiti. Only 25% of households benefit from adequate sanitation, thus people become more susceptible to infections and diseases. Reoccurring natural catastrophes have also dented the country's …

Performative Threshold, Jin Park

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Threshold is defined by Limen as transitional between two fixed states in cultural rites of passage or between two dissimilar spaces in architecture. The study of rites of passage provides an analogy from which principles can be drawn for the design of a transformative space. The experience of liminal space poses a discontinuity and leads the occupant to question their surroundings, thus leading to heightened awareness of the space as a transformative threshold between distinct spaces. All buildings have in-between space, the quality of life is directly affected by these spaces. The way of using space cannot be changed as …

[Re]Defining Chandigarh, Dhruvee Patel

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Chandigarh is the first planned modern city in India as a symbol of nation’s faith in the future designed by Le Corbusier in 1951 in the East Punjab. Through investigation it became apparent that Le Corbusier proposed design principles for Chandigarh that were already theorized for Bogota in Colombia and Marseille in France following his concept of Radiant village that was never built. His design for Chandigarh was more of a prototype model, which failed to capture the spirit of Indian culture and community, making it harder to navigate and familiarize with the city. If architecture is a reflection of …

Cultural Embrace, Jeremy Penja

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Cultural embrace creating an identity on a larger scale in modern society. Architecture is a symbolic catalyst of a threshold, it is bound by the physical presence as well as “enriched by both the memory and dreams, past and future” Juhani Pallasmaa. It captures the sensibility of expectation and fulfillment, sense of symbols that resonated within. It evokes the absolutely necessary association of visual-tactile and identity to connect the history to present. It is an absolute cultural responsiveness and symbolism that cultural embrace strives for. Spaces have become empty container lacking true essence. The current architecture does little to address …

Hurricane Communities, Katie Masters

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Hurricane Communities: An Analysis of Florida Housing is a thesis that aims to reexamine how we can, as architects, design for hurricanes more effectively at the residential scale, through investigations of lateral forces, form, structure and site. The intent is to minimize the physical and emotional damages that are left behind. The thesis examines wind uplift and changes in water level as hurricane category rise.

Post-War Learning Environments: Redefining Schools Designs In Iraq, Rana Al Rawi

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The learning environments in Iraq have been greatly affected by war and ongoing conflict in the past two decades. As a result, the drop-out rates have increased, academic achievement is low, and the students are suffering from stress. Architecturally, the existing school typologies in Iraq were designed more than 70 years ago and does not reflect the needs of the 21st century students. The new design does not only provide a physical function - an elementary school and a pedestrian bridge, but also presents a community gathering space for the parents and families of the two separated neighborhoods. Programmatic functions …

Vertical Essence, Didier Porter

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

In the late 1800s, the technological advancements of the Industrial Revolution created a new typology of architecture, the high-rise. Through architecture, people could truly live and interact with one another in clouds, while experiencing breathtaking views of the world around. To accommodate the urbanization of cites, architects and urban planners adopted the concept of vertical living within the social housing sectors. Ambitious desires towards desirable, vertical living became undermined by poor construction and problematic living conditions. Built in deprived areas and isolated locations, these experiments of social housing became a concentration of poverty, crime, and violence. Dysfunctional social environments resorted …

Interlace: Designing An Inclusionary Architecture For Alzheimer's Sufferers, Alexander Fashinasi

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis intends to address the increasing challenges the Alzheimer’s disease poses for our growing American population. The research begins by looking at the brain as a combination of components which make up the individual. Following this, the research compiles information on the Alzheimer’s disease and its symptoms, followed by an analysis of the built environments effects on the condition.

Through analysis of precedent cases and the combined Alzheimer’s research, I chose to propose an experimental community in which those with Alzheimer’s can live a life with greater autonomy while simultaneously slowing the progression of the disease. I place this …

Social Inclusion Through Art, Christian Aguilar

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

My thesis project aims to develop an Art Center, which will provide art and its many forms to the residents of Atlanta’s Westside neighborhoods. The art services will provide the residents with the opportunity to enhance creativity, promote economic growth, and bring people together; allowing themselves and the community to overcome the challenges of segregation and unemployment present in these neighborhoods. Since, art is often a non-verbal process, it will also provide individuals the platform to raise awareness about inherent issues in the neighborhoods.

Geofutures L Urban Integration, Adam Leicht

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Bring nature back to the city. Integrate neglected migration patterns in sprawling cities such as Atlanta. Mend urban fragmentation. The purpose is to make a cleaner environment in the city. My project looks at the Anthropocene as a fence. And how place has been fundamentally “displaced”. Resulting in a boundary or separation between man and nature. To study and research the Anthropocene (age of man) and how man has taken over as the main force behind the change of the environment. Looking through an architectural lens of ecology, how can we use this lens to help us slow down society …

Interamerican School Of Medicine, Wilfred Baez

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

A teaching school that also integrates itself with general practice is vital in a developing region. In this study, the focus will be aimed towards using architecture to consolidate the relationship between functionality of a learning environment external contextual awareness within the town of San German. Significance The school of medicine will produce an increase in qualified medical professionals that can easily transition into the existing private practices and larger hospital system found on the island. In turn, the health profile of Puerto Rico will improve as accessibility to medical professionals saturates the health industry.

Translating Fictions Through Shanshui Painting: For The Creation Of A Traditional And A Contemporary Chinese Architecture, Wenying Wu

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis started with studying Shanshui paintings (traditional Chinese painting method) with the purpose of translating desirable qualities from paintings to contemporary Chinese architecture. Over time, Chinese architecture has been influenced by western architecture and has gradually lost the deep logic of embracing nature in architectural spaces.

Mars: Where Humans Become Martians, Briana G. Keith

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

What qualities will influence the culture that a Martian architecture responds to? Soon enough, as dwellers begin to influence this barren habitation, a new and divergent society will soon cultivate in response to the environment of The Red Planet. These changes will bloom in accordance to Mars’ Seeds of Culture- one that reinvents the connection between the inside and outside world. These “seeds” are defined by the atmospheric and geographic conditions that we will be susceptible to everyday: rusty red days and calming blue sunsets, powerful dust storms that encompass the entire planet, no vegetation to speak of, and low …

Fringe To Focus - An Inversion Of Peripheral Inhabitation, Matthew D. Mckim

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

A major issue currently facing Atlanta and many growing cities is the issue of displacement as a result of redevelopment. As cities grow and improve, homeless individuals living on the fringes of society are being forced to vacate and move on.

My thesis aims to identify areas where struggling people are at a heightened risk of being further displaced by the rapid redevelopment of ‘fringe’ areas. It seeks to provide a proactive response to mitigate the harm, while aiding in an active rehabilitation process for effected peripheral communities. I am proposing the concept of temporary centers that can be established …

Gentrification No More! Preserving The Character Of Atlanta's West End, Roderick Williams

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The demographics and density of Atlanta is changing due to a migration of people back into the urban core of the city. The ideal location for new, private urban redevelopments has been low-income, African-American neighborhoods in Atlanta for the new inflow of people. These urban redevelopments are gentrifying low-income neighborhoods and displacing many residents who can no longer afford to live there; shifting local and cultural identities overnight. This type of shift has been visible in Atlanta over the last few years with the introduction of the Atlanta Beltline. Land use opportunities for local businesses are relying on policies to …

Industrial Issues & Architecture, Nhac Le

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Thesis Summary: Industry-The economic activity concerned with the processing of massive raw materials and manufacture of goods in factories- has been created in the developed country in the 19th century. Because of the priority in the economy, Industry has been shifting around the world where it could take advantage of cheap raw materials, labors and open policy to growth. The rush of industry has been created a lot of negative impact on society and environment in developing countries. This thesis position itself within the realm of physical relocation of Western industry to propose an architectural and infrastructural response that raises …

Re_Dressing Architecture, Kishan Desai

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Fashion can change its trends throughout the seasons, however, some buildings can adapt to the trends and change by altering their facades and or their interiors to give them a new image. How do the two disciplines interrelate? Could architecture be both in the moment and timeless? I will be exploring the intersection between fashion and architectural design. The objective of the project is to enhance the experience of the existing urban plaza at a variety of scales. I will investigate the edge condition of a downtown high-rise building, how it meets the sky and how it interacts the street …