Architectural History and Criticism Commons^™

Gladys Mitchell House Collection, Dan Bonenberger, Jaclyn Panter, Katherine St. Amand, Ian Tomashik, Kate Zorn

Digital Heritage Preservation Collection

This collection explores the life of Gladys Mitchell and the home she shared with her family on Detroit's Eastside. Gladys and her husband, Ossian Sweet, lived with her parents Benjamin and Rosella in a residence on 9322-24 Cairney Street from 1922 to 1925 before moving to the now-historic bungalow at 2905 Garland Street, located about a mile southeast. In 1925, when the Sweets moved into an all-white neighborhood, their experience led to a landmark Supreme Court case that affirmed African Americans' rights to homeownership, including the right to defend their private property.

Benjamin Mitchell and his wife, Rosella, rented the …

Building Materials Cut From The Earth: A Look At Sod Construction Around The World And In New Mexico, Giulia Caporuscio

Architecture and Planning ETDs

Terrón, or sod, is an earthen building technology that is being lost. The blocks are cut directly from the ground, generally along banks of bodies of fresh water, marshlands, or grassland valleys. The resulting blocks are clay rich with plant root systems that provide strength to the construction material. This building material is found in archeological and modern structures around the world. Today the material and knowledge behind this earthen technology is being lost.

This paper starts by summarizing other studies of sod construction in Indigenous cultures of the Americas, homesteaders of the Plains of the United States and Canada …

Ai Integration In Cultural Heritage Conservation – Ethical Considerations And The Human Imperative, Kholoud Ghaith

International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the conservation of cultural heritage marks a significant transformation in preservation methodologies, heralding both innovative solutions and complex ethical dilemmas. This article undertakes a comprehensive examination of the multifaceted role AI plays in the conservation and restoration of cultural artifacts, buildings, and sites, underscoring the irreplaceable value of human skills and ethical judgment in this domain. Through an analysis of current research, case studies, and insights from professionals in the field, the paper elucidates how AI technologies—encompassing machine learning algorithms, digital twinning, and predictive maintenance—can enhance the accuracy and efficiency of conservation efforts. …

Wild Joy: An Exploration In Queer Spatial Dynamics, Kipper Thomas Reinsmith

Masters Theses

What does it mean to feel represented in a space?

What does a trans space look like?

How can we queer our interior spaces?

Our world is crafted by the many designers that have come before us. These systems, products, and spaces are built upon assumptions of the bodies that will use and occupy them—namely cisgender, able-bodied, straight folks.

Designing and creating objects as a trans person is an act of radical nature. To take up space, to design for trans luxury, for the sake of beauty, for joy itself, feels counterintuitive to the narratives we’ve been served: that of …

Unconditioning Air, Weijia Deng

Masters Theses

Unconditioning Air rethinks the boundaries contrived through environmental control. For more than a century, HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) defined the boundaries of interior air. The regime and tools of mechanical conditioning promise stability and manageability of indoor air quality at the expense of external phenomena, and by extension, any complexity or fluctuation in the environment. As a result, air conditioning premises that ideal interior comfort is “bubble-like”, requiring increasingly standardized and highly regimented regulatory tools. The plethora of patent drawings, duct specifications, and ASHRAE comfort codes produce an oppressively tightening grip over indoor air and comfort, rendering both …

Searching For The Hyperobject: Crystals As Transscalar Vehicles, Jay Costello

Masters Theses

When I touch the street outside my house, I'm touching Los Angeles—a contiguous vector of material bisecting a continent. A slab, a stone, dust and oil, a googolplex of tightly packed anisotropic particles... At nightfall, I sneak to the edge of the highway and break off a piece. 'What does it mean for a worm to be aware of the scale of the planet?' Bruno Latour's evocative questioning of scalar jumps prompts an existentialism that places me somewhere between the hyperlocal and the massively distributed. Like a cosmic traveler floating through the universe, I feel adrift. I look around, grasping …

Frontier: Land, Architecture, And Abstraction, Jacob Boatman

Masters Theses

The abstraction of land is a colonial process by which physical land is transformed into a conceptual or symbolic entity. This transformation occurs through various economic, architectural, and cultural practices that imbue land with abstract values, meanings, and functions beyond its physicality. This includes the division of land into parcels for economic transactions, the design and construction of built environments that shape human interactions with the land, and the cultural narratives and representations that ascribe significance to particular landscapes. Through abstraction, colonial powers devalue indigenous perspectives and relationships to the land, reducing them to mere obstacles in the path of …

Homeward Bound: Moving Homes, Moving Home, Ella Nadeau

Masters Theses

The built environment has a powerful way of showing where our human attention and care is, a magic trick of emphasis and deemphasis. We proudly display our assets, wrapping them in light and gold while we shun the background people and places, choosing ubiquitous skins of plastic or brick in an effort to remove them from our visual language. Since we have had people we have had spaces to place them in but where some spaces relay the message that the person inside is a gift to the world, the majority chant a tired monotony of oppressive apathy: you do …

Building The Body, Jasmine Flowers

Masters Theses

Bodies and space co-produce each other and the process of co-production originates racializing and gendering work.

The concept, thesis, and subsequent design are informed by the historical context around the House for Josephine Baker by Adolf Loos. Presented here is the culmination of research which grounds itself in the relationship between Primitivism and Modernism, theory on the body and flesh, architectural graphic standards, spectacle, gaze, surveillance, hypervisibility, invisibility, implications of privacy versus publicity, expressions of Blackness and its place in femmehood (a neologism that expands “womanhood” to be trans-inclusive), all of which directly engage in co-production.

This co-production changes how …

Folding (And Unfolding): A Site-Responsive Strategy For Reusing Construction And Demolition Waste, Jennifer Ansley

Masters Theses

Discarding—in its most reductive formulation— is a sorting operation that makes distinctions between materials (as well as objects, people, communities, and landscapes) based on perceived value. In her book Waste of the World, Nicky Gregson, therefore, argues for a more careful collection-curation strategy that revalues and re-signifies “waste” to make it available for repair and reuse. Gregson, however, points to limited space and infrastructural capacity as a potential barrier to the development of new material handling strategies. My design responds by proposing a network of walls and paths that operate in each of the sites I’ve identified as an …

Demonstration Dwellings: Building Racial Capitalism And Economic Cooperation In New Deal Housing, 1933–1942, Austin Ehrhardt

Masters of Environmental Design Theses

Beginning in 1933, the United States federal government initiated a series of historic investments in the nation’s housing infrastructure. Propelled by the convergence of the Great Depression and the Great Migration, New Deal administrators commissioned a network of segregated residential prototypes to operate as replicable models for private industry. At the core of the discriminatory program was the creation and circulation of federally-insured debt. Reading across federal records, correspondence circuits, and contemporaneous Black journals and newspapers, this thesis revisits struggles for land, property, and Black participation in the emergent housing-based economy. It explores the distributed networks within which the Black …

The Question Of Design In The Context Of The First Australian Nations: Designing Reparations Through Decolonial Architecture, Eli Abamonte

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Forget about tourist postcards and picture-perfect landscapes. Australia's true heart beats in the ancient stories of the Indigenous communities that tell them, their vibrant cultural tapestry woven beneath the surface. My research dives into this tapestry, not as an Architect with blueprints imposing my own vision, but as a student with an open ear and collaborative spirit. Australia’s vastness holds countless stories, but my research led me deep into the heart of East Arnhem Land, where ancient legends whisper in the wind and the Yolngu people dwell. Anthropologists like Bruno Descola shattered my singular view of the world, revealing a …

Mapping Stratcom: The Architecture Of Offutt, The U.S. Military, And Strategic Command, Anna Miles

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Architecture and the military have always been intertwined. The built environment both on and off U.S. military installations responds to the events, history, and influences of the military. This project explores one example of this by investigating the history of the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, through the lens of architecture.

When exploring USSTRATCOM, this project aims to understand not only its history, but also its impact: on Offutt, on the world, and most importantly, on architecture. Firstly, the project explores the history of the military in the state of Nebraska and …

At The Death Of Architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright's Dreams Of America In Japan, Matthew L. Delgaudio

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

In 1832, French writer Victor Hugo declares the death of the edifice as a result of the totalizing popularity of Gutenberg’s printing press since the fifteenth century. American architect Frank Lloyd Wright would echo this sentiment to an intrigued Chicago audience almost 70 years later in his 1901 lecture, “The Art and Craft of the Machine.” The argument went that architecture, chief among the arts, would employ ornament, applied art, and symbolic meaning to capture and spread lasting imprints of human thought before the book usurped this position on account of its greater efficiency in accomplishing the same ends. While …

A Material History Of The Early Eighteenth-Century Cod Fishery In Canso, Nova Scotia, Adrian Lk Morrison

Northeast Historical Archaeology

In the early eighteenth century, Canso, Nova Scotia housed an influential Anglo-American fishing and trading community with far-reaching connections across Europe and the Americas. The islands were inhabited by a small permanent population joined each year by hundreds of migratory workers who established seasonal operations along their shores. Despite high hopes for long-term development, success would be short lived. Canso was a volatile space: the islands were contested territory and existed within a tense and turbulent frontier. The settlement was attacked multiple times and was destroyed in 1744. This paper draws upon new research and previous archaeological studies to discuss …

Photography, Architecture, And Environment: An Architectural Analysis Of Edward Ruscha’S 26 Gasoline Stations, Rebecca Tonguis

[Archive] Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

This presentation explores Edward Ruscha’s photobook 26 Gasoline Stations through an architectural lens. Specifically, it treats Ruscha’s work as historic evidence of how consumption, industry, and commodity have infiltrated all kinds of environmental contexts through architectural manifestations. Known for being the first artist’s book, 26 Gasoline Stations ambiguously exists as both fine art and documentation of everyday conditions, with the overall graphic character highlighting its perceived focus on overarching narrative. Since gasoline stations are the primary subject of each of the 26 photographs, the subject of this work is arguably architecture, suggesting that the historic relationship between mass gas consumption—or …

Formal And Color Indications In The Design Of Billboards On The Facades Of Buildings In The City Of Salt: An Analytical Study, باسم العبيدي, علاء الشرع

Jerash for Research and Studies Journal مجلة جرش للبحوث والدراسات

The graphic design, especially the billboards installed on the fronts of shops, public and private buildings, and columns, is considered one of the creative arts due to its wide spread among societies and its different layers and complementary to human activities and in keeping with the industrial and commercial development that resulted in artistic production that is characterized by creativity and innovation in a conscious spirit with aesthetic values for the purpose of Achieving the goal and the goal, which is an activity or product in accordance with general and beneficial principles to achieve an end, and it should generate …

A Municipal Modernity: Women, Architecture, And Public Health In Working-Class New York, 1913–1950, Jessica Fletcher

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“A Municipal Modernity” is the first study to analyze the architectural history of the district health centers in New York City that women reformers and their allies founded to address poor health in working-class communities. It reveals that women’s philanthropic adaptive re-use was foundational to the architecture of the public health care in New York and led to a program of municipal district health centers. Philanthropic reformers adapted buildings in the 1910s and 1920s to provide affordable health care for low-income women and children in European immigrant and Black neighborhoods. During the New Deal, municipal officials followed the example set …

Lost & Found (Game Series) [Book Chapter], Owen Gottlieb

Articles

Description of game series for use in the classroom with best practices.

Scattered Fragments: Art, Architecture, And Archives In Revolutionary Urban Cairo, Mounira M. Makar

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes how revolutions impact urban Cairo and its communities, specifically within artistic, architectural and archival practice while acknowledging the central role of public spaces in giving way to such revolutionary practices. Fundamentally, this paper highlights the foundational nature of such practices in developing urban communities.

“These Are Our Saints:” A Lourdes Shrine, The St. Coletta School For Exceptional Children, And The Catholic Remaking Of Cognitive Disability, Andrew Walker-Cornetta

Religion

This chapter appears from the book American Patroness: Marian Shrines and the Making of US Catholicism by Katherine Dugan and Karen E. Park, Editors.

"'These Are Our Saints:' A Lourdes Shrine, the St. Coletta School for Exceptional Children, and the Catholic Remaking of Cognitive Disability" focuses on a Lourdes shrine on the campus of what was once perhaps the most celebrated institution in the United States for persons with cognitive disabilities. It takes this site as a window onto mid-twentieth century Catholic efforts to re-imagine cognitive difference and highlights the importance of Marian devotional grammars to those efforts.

Namesake: An Ekphrasis On La Sagrada Familia Basilica In Barcelona, Spain, Rachel Henry

Obsculta

Ekphrasis is a literary description of a work of art or architecture—a kind of over-the-top ode. The Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family, commonly known as La Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona, Spain, has been under construction for 142 years and is expected to be completed by 2032. With its integral sculptures, soaring towers, and feats of engineering, Architect Antoni Gaudí’s masterpiece is unlike any other church or cathedral in the world. Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the temple as a minor basilica in 2010. This article delves into La Sagrada Familia and aims to aid the reader in imaginatively exploring the …

154 East Chicago Blvd And Downtown Tecumseh, Mi, Lisa Powell

Historic Preservation Final Projects

The downtown commercial building at 154 East Chicago Blvd in Tecumseh, MI represents the typical building style of the late 1800s. It reflects the building styles and materials common to the area using such as fired brick and limestone, decorative cast iron columns and galvanized metal cornice, all typical in the Midwest in the late 19th century. This project analyzes how this commercial building has adapted to meet the needs of a small town in Tecumseh, Michigan, in southeast lower Michigan.

Contemporary Museum Practices In An "Old School House;" Bringing Best Collections Management And Public History Practices To A Local Historical Society, Korey Ryan Morris

Historic Preservation Final Projects

The Taylor Michigan Historical Society’s (THS) collections and interpretation-based activities in its historical single-room schoolhouse were underutilized and put to the side for years. The current wave of THS members and volunteers are reinvigorating the society by using best practices in the field of museum management and heritage interpretation to achieve its goals of a vibrant community historical society. To assist in this revitalization effort, this project: creates object and archival collection lists for current and future reference in the schoolhouse; updates the interpretation plans for the schoolhouse, including lesson plans that reflect the current academic standards in the state …

"Love And Reading": An Oral History Of Albion's Big Read, Akaiia Ridley

Historic Preservation Final Projects

No abstract provided.

Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum Disaster Preparedness And Response Plan, Andrew De Windt

Historic Preservation Final Projects

This project consists of a Disaster Preparedness and Response Plan created for the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, located at Whitefish Point, 11 miles north of Paradise, MI, prefaced with a methodological report of its drafting and creation and recommendations for its implementation. Disaster Preparedness and Response Plans are a core document for museums and cultural institutions. As is best practice according to guidelines from the American Alliance of Museums and International Council on Museums, this plan is tailored for the specific needs, location, collection, and personnel of the museum. It contains procedures, policies, and institutional information in a ready-to-use format …

Aray Women Clothes Analysis, Cassandra Mitchell

Historic Preservation Final Projects

Many clothing artifacts we find in museums or archives have been saved because of how special and precious they were. It is rare that there are everyday clothes that have survived generations. This final project examines three articles of clothing from the prominent African American Aray family of Ypsilanti held at the Ypsilanti Historical Society: a pair of gloves, a shirtwaist, and a skirt. Through material culture analysis, they reveal common everyday clothing trends with personalized touches. The research identified which Aray women wore these items, the mid to late 1800s clothing trends, how common these clothing items were, and …

Art Inquries Vol Xviii No 4 2023 Front Matter, Mysoon Rizk

Art Inquiries

No abstract provided.

Jamie Robertson: Make For Higher Ground, Elizabeth S. Hawley

Art Inquiries

No abstract provided.

The Date Of The Allegory Of Mercy At The Misericordia In Florence...Again: Some Clarifications Regarding The Historical Setting, William R. Levin

Art Inquiries

No abstract provided.