Architectural Technology Commons^™

The Foreign Complex | A Cross-Cultural Vernacular, Dexter Cicchinelli

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis investigates transforming a decommissioned military site into a productive part of its host nation’s context. Okinawa consists of a group of islands that make up the southern-most prefecture of Japan. MAP It is situated midway between Tokyo and Manila, and called the “keystone of the Pacific” by military planners because of its strategic location. AERIAL FLIGHT MAP It was the site of the devastating Battle of Okinawa in WWII which prompted an ongoing history of military intervention and occupation. TIMELINE Immediately after the war, displaced Okinawans were put in camps while the military claimed land for bases. Some …

The Seed | Urban Vertical Farming Germinated, Michael Lima

Architecture Senior Theses

A city works as an ecosystem in many ways. However, we currently do not live within that ecosystem, as the difference between an ecosystem and a city is the waste output and food input . Nature and society do not exist independently because there are no spaces of nature unaffected by man. With this in mind we need to reestablish our relationship with nature. Architecture and engineering can be used to create buildings that will allow humans to turn cities into ecosystems. This thesis argues that Urban Vertical Farms will produce social and economic hubs that will be a new …

This Is Not The Color Yellow | A Thesis On Projecting Materiality, Annagrace Walton

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis reimagines the traditional materiality of the architectural façade by coupling the functional and aesthetic expectations of the day-lit building face with the supplementary material and narrative possibilities of a projected night time display. Engaging the potential of new architectural technologies, the thesis celebrates both the novel and sensational qualities of physically manifested materials and textures while simultaneously exploring the future possibilities of virtual and augmented materials through digital projection mapping.

Set in spectacle-friendly Las Vegas, Nevada, the test site for this experimentation is the Flamingo Resort in Las Vegas, a pivotal intersection of pedestrian and motor traffic. Re-cladding …

Absorbency In Tidal Resiliency | The Thickened Pier, Shauna Strubinger

Architecture Senior Theses

The inevitable truth of climate change has placed coastal cities at great risk. Past natural disasters in the United States such as Hurricane Sandy and Katrina, displaced many people because these communities’ only protection was their failed infrastructure.1 Although hard and soft infrastructure strategies have addressed the rising sea level, architecture at the building scale creates static surfaces and divisions that are slow to adapt to flooding and leave little to no room for the ambiguity of tidal flooding and storm surge. Though numerous areas are at risk of sea level rise across the globe, the Chesapeake Bay area is …

Memory + Architecture | The Act Of Forgetting, Mariel Mora Llorens

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis proposes the activation and repurposing of buildings associated with traumatic memories as a means of studying the ways in which architecture embodies memories and aids in the process of forgetting. Architecture and the built environment are linked to the creation and recollection of memories because they trigger four of the senses that are related to memory.

To forget is an active, not passive endeavor. Conscious forgetting is not an act of erasing memories, but transforming them by removing the emotional responses that are produced by our recollection of these memories. Like memories in our brains, buildings that have …

Anarchy City, Zhuocen Yao

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis is a political manifesto that seeks to address the current chaotic and undesrable politcal environment on the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen (Anarchy City). Acknowledging that:

-Anarchy City has evolved from political borders whose purpose was to create division.

-Anarchy City possesses width and depth, is a 3-dimensional space of physical presence.

-Anarchy City is a "zone of exception" independent from the entities it sets out to separate.

-Anarchy City is anarchic, free of formal rules and regulations and thus free for interpretation.

-Anarchy City is deliberately distinguished from, and …

Private Room Of The Wheel | A New Form Of Transient Dwelling, Kathy Teng

Architecture Senior Theses

The cross-country highway and road trip are deeply rooted in the American psyche, supported by the rapid growth in ownership of automobiles by American families since the 1940s, establishing a sense of freedom and leisure in their mobile lifestyles. However, other highway users have less control and freedom over their daily routine. These users are part of a vast network of international commerce reliant on the long haul.

The time long-haul truck drivers are away from home is prolonged, with the end of each day spent sleeping in fixed truck cabins and eating at banal truck stops. “ ‘I can …

The Synchronous City, Patricia Olivera

Architecture Senior Theses

Architects’ conceptualizations of cities reference and reflect trends in contemporary culture. During the early 1900's, architects such as Ebenezer Howard, and Tony Garnier speculated on modernist visions of cities, while in the mid-late 1900's radical visions of cities by Archigram, and Archizoom emerged. This project will operate along the framework of previous visions of cities by architects and envision a city rooted on the use of digital information and communication technologies (ICTs).

In order to best engage the provocation of a city based on ICTs as the primary means of exchange and interaction between citizens (as opposed to cars, pedestrians, …

Ambient Intelligence | Cognizant Architecture For The Restless, Anne Judkis

Architecture Senior Theses

In recent decades, technology has proliferated throughout our architectural spaces, from personalized handheld gadgetry to smart systems and appliances. This constant barrage of screens and interfaces that humans interact with for large portions of our day has grown to define our very living conditions, particularly by disrupting our circadian rhythms. It is well documented that lack of sleep can lead to numerous long and short term health problems such as weight gain, irritability, to more sever acute conditions like hallucinations and organ failure. This thesis will address architecture's potential to interact with individuals utilizing smart environments that drive kinetic architecture. …

An Escape | Threshold Space Design In Bath, Xihao Chen

Architecture Senior Theses

Threshold, conventionally referring to the line of the door jamb, serves to mark the transition between exterior and interior, or between two separate spaces. Contemporary thresholds are most often underplayed, being deployed as a thin surface, or intentionally minimized in terms of thickness. This thesis argues that the term threshold should be applied to a broader sense of architectural space. When a threshold is stretched and thickened conceptually from a surface to a volume, it can become a threshold space.

This thesis argues that threshold space is simultaneously a place, a puncture in an architectural boundary, and as the in …

Performative Architecture | A Measurable Means Of Evaluating Formal Systems, Garrett Marini

Architecture Senior Theses

The Gothic, Baroque, and Rococo architectural styles relied on perception and an underlying adherence to classical formulas to provide merit and deem an architecture valid. Up through the 19th century before the emergence of modernism these established canons would reemerge both in isolation and as an amalgam of styles. Henry Russell Hitchcock describes this latter episodic phase of building as exhibiting an eclecticism of style, where features of different styles are used together on a single building like those in the Beaux- Arts tradition. In the early 20th century, Louis Sullivan’s modernist dictum of “Form Follows Function,” while seemingly providing …

The Internet Of Things User Interface | Navigating Physical And Virtual Information Spaces, Nhan Bui

Architecture Senior Theses

It is projected that the boundary between our physical and virtual environments will be further blurred through the emergence of the "internet of things" (IoT). The IoT is a network of physical objects embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity that enables its objects to collect and exchange information on the internet. The most prevalent example of IoT today is your mobile phone. The mobile phone is an electronic device with software that tracks your location via GPS and your preferences based on your interactions on the internet. The collecting and exchanging of information in today' centralized internet infrastructure …

Philep | A Self-Sufficient Pod, Brenna Merola

Architecture Senior Theses

Since 2011 civil war has erupted in Syria causing many Syrians to flee the county. About 9 million people have been internationally displaced causing disruption to the surrounding countries, which have had to create new accommodations. Primary issues have been shortage of basic such as shelter, food and water. Through analysis of disaster situations and refugee conditions, the types of infrastructural systems needed for survival can be better understood. This analysis can determine how to integrate systems into an architectural solution to this global issue: temporary housing pods.

Michael McDaniels, EXO Reaction Housing founder, has created a prototype of a …

Algorithmic Settlements | Modeling Informal Settlement Through Automated Generative Design, Ben Anderson-Nelson

Architecture Senior Theses

The position of the architect when designing is to arbitrate which information is relevant and which is not, and to do so across a broad spectrum of fields. Considering this, Christopher Alexander claimed as long ago as 1964, that “design problems are reaching insoluble levels of complexity.”This thesis focuses on informal settlement growth and how architects can investigate growth as a part of master-planning new housing. Drawing on case studies of settlements, video game logics, and existing architectural tools, a tool was developed to study the growth of settlements. This tool is based on cellular automata, a spatial and algorithmic …

Free Encounters | Giving Form To The Informal Workplace, Ryan Williams

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis contends that the "office" as a solely economic construct is no more: Its utility as an engine driving productivity and the accumulation of capital has stalled in our present age of information where value is constructed through knowledge exchange and interaction.

Via the use of new technologies, millennial workers' transition from the college campus to the office has become more seamless and, this thesis argues, it is in this paradigm shift that it is possible to identify a blurring of the public and private spheres. The millennial worker-turned-freelancer's life exists forever suspended between work and play, place and …

The Effects Of Tones In Noise On Human Annoyance And Performance, Joonhee Lee

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

Building mechanical equipment often generates prominent tones because most systems include rotating parts like fans and pumps. These tonal noises can cause unpleasant user experiences in spaces and, in turn, lead to increased complaints by building occupants. Currently, architectural engineers can apply the noise criteria guidelines in standards or publications to achieve acceptable noise conditions for assorted types of spaces. However, these criteria do not apply well if the noise contains perceptible tones. The annoyance thresholds experienced by the general population with regards to the degree of tones in noise is a significant piece of knowledge that has not been …

Green Building Rating Systems And The Role Of The Project Manager, Davis Ciprikis

Other Resources

Sustainable development has increased significantly over the last 10 years. Construction firms are adopting sustainable practices that come from both, internal and external drivers of the construction industry. In order to assess how sustainable a building is, a green building rating systems have been developed to provide a documented and systematic approach to sustainable construction practices. Amongst these rating systems are the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methods (BREEAM) introduced in the UK and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) created in the USA. It has been noted that the project manager will have an important role to …

Sustainable Architecture Design: Environmental And Economic Benefits, Michael Babcock

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis examines the movement of environmentalism, and its impact on architecture and construction. During an interview with a professional architect, a basis for research of sustainable design was devised, when he explained that “good” architecture attempts to holistically integrate the external and built environment. Presently, the main measurement for sustainability is energy efficiency. Therefore, architects constantly implement new technology in an attempt to unify both the external and built environment in an energy efficient manner. Furthermore, this thesis provides an environmental and financial cost analysis of implementing sustainable design and build. Research shows that the life cycle and up-front …

Case Study Of Quantifying Energy Loss Through Ceiling-Attic Recessed Lighting Fixtures Through 3d Numerical Simulation, Ri Na, Shengmao Lin, Zhigang Shen, Linxia Gu

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Air leakage through improperly installed recessed lighting fixtures has been identified as a common issue causing extra energy consumption of residential buildings. However, little quantitative study was found in this area. In this paper, a preliminary evaluation of the magnitude of such energy loss was conducted by numerical simulations using 3 dimensional transient computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. A typical layout of recessed lighting fixtures was used in this case study with boundary conditions in four different seasons, which were obtained from past measured roof/attic temperature data sets. The results of the numerical simulations indicate that leakage of recessed lighting …

Enhancing A Housing Technical Design Studio With A Collaborative On-Line Learning Space, Jim Roche

Conference papers

This paper presents the experience in participating in a collaborative learning environment involving different academic programs from various schools of architecture and urban planning within the framework of the OIKONET project. A collaborative project for new urban, environmental and architectural solutions for three social housing blocks built in Dublin in the 1950’s has been designed and implemented on-site and in a web-based learning environment following a blended-learning philosophy. Teachers from other schools have evaluated the student work presented in this environment. This blended-learning approach has contributed to enhancing the educational space of the on-site design studio. Students had to learn …

A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment For Utilising Laminated Veneer Bamboo As A Primary Structural Material In High-Rise Residential Buildings, Philip Kavanagh

Masters

In a time when construction is ranked as one of the world’s least sustainable industries consuming about half of the world’s non-renewable resources (Hinson, 2012), it is important to develop and advance the methods and means by which we select and use building materials and how we design, engineer and construct our architecture. This research aimed to evaluate a method for utilising laminated veneer bamboo (LVB) as a primary structural material in high-rise residential buildings and evaluate the environmental potential of LVB through a comparative life cycle analysis (LCA). The process of life cycle analysis was completed through the development …

Divisible Cities, Noel Brady

Other resources

No abstract provided.

Analog:Digital, The Digital Spine: A 1 X 1 Strategy For Integrating Digital Tools In Foundation Design Studios, Ting Chin, Claudia E. Hernandez Feiks

Publications and Research

Architectural education today needs to foster the inherent conceptual and creative thought processes the profession demands but also knowledge of all of the tools that allow architects to create and produce their work. Over the last 25 years the number of digital tools used in the practice of architecture has increased exponentially. Incorporating these digital tools, together with analog ones still being taught in most undergraduate programs today, is overstretching already overloaded architectural curricula. This leaves us to consider how we maintain the quality of teaching as the quantity of content increases and the amount of time with students remains …

An Exploration Of Structural Timber Innovation, Simon Beskitt

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In many undergraduate programs of study, civil and structural engineering students are exposed to introductory material regarding timber construction. The information received in the undergraduate experience typically consists of a brief summary of the basic mechanical properties of wood but does not significantly cover timber design. Much greater emphasis is placed on design practices involving steel and concrete, likely due to their prominence in contemporary building trends in civil engineering. While it is true that wood is one of the older materials in terms of its utilization in structural and architectural design, it is certainly not an antiquated choice. Wood …

การก่อสร้างและตกแต่งพลับพลาพิธี, พิมพ์สิริ เหมโสกะณะ

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

พลับพลาพิธีเป็นที่ประทับ สําหรับรับรองพระมหากษัตริย์และพระบรมวงศานุวงศ์ในพระราชพิธีต่างๆ แม้จะใช้งานระยะสั้น แต่ก็ต้องมั่นคงแข็งแรงและสมพระเกียรติ โดยมีกรมโยธาธิการและผังเมือง เป็นหน่วยงานรับผิดชอบครอบคลุมพื้นที่ทั่วประเทศ จึงมีวัตถุประสงค์จะศึกษากระบวนการก่อสร้างและตกแต่งพลับพลาพิธี โดยใช้วิธีรวบรวมข้อมูล จากการสำรวจ สังเกตการณ์ บันทึกภาพ สัมภาษณ์ รวมทั้งค้นคว้าเอกสารอื่นที่เกี่ยวข้องพลับพลาพิธี ประกอบด้วยที่ประทับหรือที่นั่งประธานพิธี อาจมีอาสนสงฆ์ ผู้ติดตาม และผู้เข้าเฝ้าด้วย ซึ่งจะต้องเป็นไปตามลำดับชั้นหรือลำดับฐานะของประธานพิธี ได้แก่ พระบรมวงศานุวงศ์ ผู้แทนพระองค์ สมณศักดิ์ของพระสงฆ์ หรือรัฐมนตรี จากการศึกษาพบว่า พลับพลาพิธีมีความกว้าง 4.00-6.00เมตร ความยาว 4.00-24.00เมตร โดยขนาดเล็กสุดคือ 4.00x4.00เมตร สำหรับเป็นที่ประทับเพียงพระองค์เดียว และขนาดใหญ่สุดคือ 6.00x24.00เมตร ประกอบด้วยที่ประทับ อาสนสงฆ์ ผู้ติดตาม 30 คนและผู้เข้าเฝ้า 91 คน แต่ละพลับพลาพิธีจะแบ่งได้เป็น ส่วนโครงสร้าง ส่วนตกแต่งและส่วนประกอบ กองออกแบบและก่อสร้างพลับพลาพิธีแบ่งส่วนงานเป็น ส่วนอำนวยการและประสานราชการ ส่วนออกแบบและโครงการพิเศษ และส่วนปฏิบัติการและก่อสร้างพลับพลาพิธีมีเจ้าหน้าที่รวม 188 คนทั้งนี้จากการศึกษาพบว่าในการดำเนินการ มีการกำหนดบทบาทหน้าที่ของผู้ปฏิบัติงานชัดเจน มีข้อกำหนดในการปฏิบัติงาน มีการประสานงานกับผู้เกี่ยวข้อง มีการประชุมวางแผน มีการสำรวจพื้นที่ มีคลังพัสดุและครุภัณฑ์ที่มีความพร้อมและมีการตรวจสอบคุณภาพและการปฏิบัติงาน รวมทั้งการทำสำรวจความพึงพอใจของผู้ที่เกี่ยวข้อง กระบวนการทำงานของกองออกแบบและก่อสร้างพลับพลามี 3 ขั้นตอน ได้แก่ 1.ระยะก่อนการจัดการ 2.ระยะจัดการ 3.ระยะหลังการจัดการ นอกจากนี้ยังมีงานก่อสร้างอาคารประกอบและงานตกแต่ง ซึ่งจะมีกระบวนการเหมือนกันเพียงแต่ไม่สร้างพลับพลาพิธี

Iron In The Soul, Noel Brady

Articles

This paper re-examines the iconic use of cruciform columns in the famous Barcelona Pavilion and the other ‘German’ projects of the architect Mies Van der Rohe. It extrapolates for the material itself to construct a theory about the meaning behind their design and iconography linking it to Shinkel and a coded national identify.