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- Adaptive reuse; stadium design; urban regeneration; sports architecture; sustainability; community-centered design; mixed-use development; urban planning; architectural adaptability; stadium transformation (1)
- Building Facades; Envelope Design; Skin Facades; Sustainable Design; Materiality (1)
- Cemetery Design; Urban Planning; Master Planning; Economic Use; Environmental Design; Sustainable Space (1)
- Daylighting; Hotel Design; Resort Design; Human Health; Circadian Rhythm (1)
- Desert urbanism; ephemeral architecture; gateway design; speculative architecture; community design; experiential design; ritual space; temporary cities; participatory architecture; desert landscape; urban identity; threshold spaces; Burning Man; Las Vegas; spatial storytelling; installation art; public space; architectural research; sustainable design; human-centered design; desert architecture (1)
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- Hotel Renovations;Remodles;Renovation Waste;Renovation Materials;New Renovation Material;Organic Material;Mycelium (1)
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- Mental well-being; ecological sustainability; green infrastructure; bioswale; flood conveyance; stormwater management; regeneration; biofiltration; physiology (1)
- Neuroarchitecture; Sensory design; Environmental psychology; Phenomenology; Emotional well-being; Human-centered design; Spatial perception; Heart rate variability (HRV); Restorative environments; Virtual reality testing; Cognitive architecture; Multisensory experience (1)
- Pedestrian; Greenspace; Pedestrian Safety; Public Transportation; Traffic; Bellagio; Excalibur; Tropicana; Las Vegas Boulevard (1)
- Rehabilitation Design; Building Typologies; Commercial Spaces; Hospitality Design; Urban Planning (1)
- Schools of the desert; biophilic design; biophilic learning environments; nature-based learning; high school design; connection to nature; arid climate education architecture (1)
- Sustainability Design; Thermal Mass; Integrated Resort; Hospitality Design; Energy Efficient Systems (1)
- Truckee River; Reno; Great Basin; ecological infrastructure; rewilding; interspecies design; urban ecology; riparian corridor; habitat connectivity; vacant parcels; native species; stormwater management; brownfield restoration; urban transect; architectural design; ecological design (1)
Articles 1 - 18 of 18
Full-Text Articles in Environmental Design
A Vision For S.P.A.M. — Smart Planning For Accessibility In Micro-Communities, Alexis Myra Castillo Tamayo
A Vision For S.P.A.M. — Smart Planning For Accessibility In Micro-Communities, Alexis Myra Castillo Tamayo
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
The selection of a capstone topic is therefore deliberate. It requires engaging with issues that are not only architecturally relevant, but personally meaningful and socially significant. In this project, that focus returns to my hometown of Lāhainā, Maui—a place deeply rooted in history, culture, and community. In recent years, and especially following the events of 2023, the need to reconsider how design can support resilience, safety, and connection has become increasingly urgent. These conditions reveal that rebuilding is not solely about replacing what was lost, but about rethinking systems that shape everyday life. This capstone is grounded in that premise. …
Saving The Great Basin: Creating Places For The Birds, Bees And Beyond, Carlos Gomez
Saving The Great Basin: Creating Places For The Birds, Bees And Beyond, Carlos Gomez
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
This project looks at how vacant and underused parcels along the Truckee River in Reno, Nevada, can be rethought as part of a larger ecological system. Rather than treating these parcels as empty leftover spaces, the project sees them as opportunities to create small habitat patches that can support native species, improve stormwater function, and strengthen the river corridor over time. The work focuses on three sites along the Truckee River: California Avenue, Island Avenue, and Commercial Row. Each site responds to a different condition along the urban transect, from a sloped residential river edge to a tighter urban parcel …
Designing For The Brain: Neuroarchitecture, Isabella Schutte
Designing For The Brain: Neuroarchitecture, Isabella Schutte
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
This capstone explores how principles from neuroscience can inform the design of micro-scale architectural environments to support emotional well-being and cognitive clarity. Through research, sensory analysis, immersive VR testing, and physiological and perceptual data collection, the project investigates how elements such as light, materiality, form, and atmosphere influence human experience. By comparing existing, aesthetic, and neuroscience-informed environments, the study suggests that intentional sensory design may better support restoration, stress regulation, and overall well-being within everyday spaces.
Schools Of The Desert: An Integrated Approach To Learning Through Biophilic & Contextual Design, Rejndi Hylviu
Schools Of The Desert: An Integrated Approach To Learning Through Biophilic & Contextual Design, Rejndi Hylviu
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
This capstone investigates how high school environments in arid regions can be reimagined through the integration of biophilic design, climate-responsive strategies, and place-based learning. Grounded in personal experience growing up in the Southwest, the project begins by identifying a widespread condition of disconnection, where students are educated in environments that are sealed off from the very landscapes they inhabit. Through a synthesis of literature, case studies, and interviews, the research establishes that exposure to natural systems can measurably improve cognitive performance, emotional well-being, physical health, and social behavior. Biophilic principles such as dynamic light, material connection, prospect and refuge, and …
Tracing The Mirage: Designing For The Unseen Community, Yasmine Bannoura
Tracing The Mirage: Designing For The Unseen Community, Yasmine Bannoura
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
Tracing the Mirage: Designing for the Unseen Community explores how the temporary urbanism of Burning Man can inform more human-centered, experiential, and community-driven approaches to architecture and urban design in Las Vegas. Through research, interviews, surveys, and speculative gateway designs, the project reimagines arrival, identity, and connection within the desert landscape.
Sunrise To Sunset Walk, Mariana Clara Servin
Sunrise To Sunset Walk, Mariana Clara Servin
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
Sunrise Manor, known as the East Side, is often overlooked and avoided. It carries a negative reputation, with locals frequently advising tourists to stay away, a pattern common in neighborhoods where marginalized communities reside. Despite its vibrancy, the area lacks parks, public amenities, and entertainment, leaving residents underserved. Sunrise Manor is predominantly Hispanic, and its cultural presence is embedded in everyday street life, where vendors sell fruit, food, flowers, and goods on neighborhood corners. This identity has also shaped destinations like Broadacres Marketplace, the largest outdoor swap meet in Las Vegas. However, recent immigration policies and rising fears within the …
The Biowell System: An Integrative Framework That Connects Ecological Sustainability And Mental Wellbeing Through The Regenerative Processes Of Bioswales, Nathan A. Bussa
The Biowell System: An Integrative Framework That Connects Ecological Sustainability And Mental Wellbeing Through The Regenerative Processes Of Bioswales, Nathan A. Bussa
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
The Biowell System is an evaluative framework that connects ecological sustainability and mental well-being through the regenerative processes of bioswales.
Artful Architecture: Making Moments Around The Las Vegas Valley, Rachel Chinen
Artful Architecture: Making Moments Around The Las Vegas Valley, Rachel Chinen
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
Artful Architecture: Making Moments Around the Las Vegas Valley investigates the spatial and cultural disconnect between the highly thematic, immersive environments of the Las Vegas Strip and the surrounding auto-oriented, utilitarian suburban sprawl. This research explores the integration of public art with everyday civic infrastructure to cultivate a stronger sense of place and local community identity.
Climate Responsive Design For Airport Terminals In Hot Arid Climates, Zahra Salmizadeh
Climate Responsive Design For Airport Terminals In Hot Arid Climates, Zahra Salmizadeh
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
This thesis argues that the roof of an airport terminal can be transformed from a neutral cover into an operational design tool that actively shapes passenger experience in hot arid environments. Drawing from observed challenges in contemporary airport concourses, including those identified through the D Gates concourse at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas as an example, the study examines roof structure, envelope, and form as distinct but interrelated design fields. It investigates how these components influence wayfinding clarity, thermal and visual comfort, acoustic performance, and spatial identity in large scale airport interiors.
After The Final Whistle: Designing The Future Of Stadiums, Alan Zabdyel Garcia
After The Final Whistle: Designing The Future Of Stadiums, Alan Zabdyel Garcia
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
After the Final Whistle: Designing the Future of Stadiums explores how the lifespan of aging and abandoned stadiums can be extended through adaptive reuse and community-centered design. As billions of dollars continue to be invested into sports infrastructure, many stadiums face obsolescence after only a few decades, often leaving behind urban voids and environmental waste. This design capstone develops a framework for evaluating stadium transformation through multiple lenses including adaptability, economics, urban planning, history, environmental impact, politics, sporting needs, and community engagement. Using case studies such as Sam Boyd Stadium and Cashman Field in Las Vegas, the research explores how …
Mycological Renovations: How Saprophytic Fungi-Composite Materials Can Remodle Ff&E, Dillon Denig
Mycological Renovations: How Saprophytic Fungi-Composite Materials Can Remodle Ff&E, Dillon Denig
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
The hospitality sector in Las Vegas particularly could do a better job at leading by example through more sustainable renovations and experiences. Today's travelers, restaurant patrons, hotel bookers and shoppers care about sustainability and sustainable practices make hospitality organizations stand out. In the ongoing climate crisis, research is being conducted assessing the viability of biomimetric materials which are responsibly sources, do not release harmful man-made toxins, and decompose through natural means. One of these organic materials further being researched as a likely future replacement of plastics is mycelium. The design method will follow growing various mycelium fixtures and furnishings following …
Anthesis: The Blooming Of The Las Vegas Strip, David Navarrete
Anthesis: The Blooming Of The Las Vegas Strip, David Navarrete
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
The diversity of thought throughout the HD Studio always produces great synergy between projects with overlapping areas of interest. Here, we see a question about why Las Vegas' public green space lags behind other cities' lead to more questions (and answers) about how the pedestrian experience along Las Vegas Boulevard could transform from a predominantly car-centric space into a sidewalk experience that extends the excitement of resorts' interiors to the outside. Like other theses that explore everything from public promenades to places for social media posts, the work of David Navarreto calls on lessons learned from urban planning, landscape architecture, …
Hybrid Hospitality, John Gassaway
Hybrid Hospitality, John Gassaway
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
In order to understand the proposed coupled system, there must be an understanding of each component and how optimal performance of the system depends on sustainable architectural design. The basics of each component, a brief history and applicable case studies will be explained and presented starting with ground source thermal loops and then thermal mass (concrete walls). This will be followed by a more detailed explanation of how the components couple to form a functioning energy efficient system, how research can prove energy efficiency and how architectural design concepts can merge to influence sustainable hospitality design.
The Future Of Cemetery Design, Landon Baker
The Future Of Cemetery Design, Landon Baker
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
Traditional cemeteries defined as a place where the deceased are embalmed, placed in metal coffins and buried horizontally underground, are important places but have become outdated. Traditional cemeteries can be improved in terms of economic use of space, circulation, and visitor experience. Improving these aspects will make cemeteries more environmentally sustainable, more practical for people and cities, and overall improve the experience of the modern consumer.
An Alternative Approach To Food Market Design Strategies That Nurture Human Health And Well-Being, Kendall Marsh
An Alternative Approach To Food Market Design Strategies That Nurture Human Health And Well-Being, Kendall Marsh
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
Access to food is being implemented in newer and more convenient forms now more than ever before. However, many of the methods that people utilize to purchase food may have substantial adverse health effects. Markets were once centered around a direct exchange of locally grown food and intimate social gatherings. Major developments like the industrialization of agriculture, rapid urbanization, and technological advancements introduced a shift in food market settings. Redefining the design of the market environment can transform a routine task into a valuable experience that nurtures human health and well-being.
The Importance Of Daylighting In Guest Rooms And The Fundamental Flaws Of Hotel Design, Jairo Garcia
The Importance Of Daylighting In Guest Rooms And The Fundamental Flaws Of Hotel Design, Jairo Garcia
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
Analysis of the hotel buildings reveals greater than 50% of rooms have inadequate day lighting. This topic is especially important here in Las Vegas because 15 of the 20 largest hotels in the world are located in our city. With a total of about 150,000 hotel rooms. An average of about 31% of all rooms in the strip are in the shadows, and have no exposure to sunlight over the year. Studies reveal that being in rooms facing north or with poor lighting brings negative effects to its inhabitants like depression, increased stress, gives people little energy and buildings spend …
Designing A Non Conventional Philosophy Of Punishment: Rehabilitation And Reintegration Of Young Offenders, Paola Ortiz
Designing A Non Conventional Philosophy Of Punishment: Rehabilitation And Reintegration Of Young Offenders, Paola Ortiz
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
Architecture is one of the few disciplines that sends a silent message to everyone walking into any space. Design is crucial to create specific environments, but when it comes to a prison design, the concept is restricted. Design for prisons, jails, and juvenile corrections are more focused on cost and security, than humanity and hospitality related principles. Access to natural light is a luxury, windows are expensive, and the standardized colors used on their walls are far too depressing.
From Envelope T Skin Exploration Of The Facade As A Synthetic Organic Material, Eduardo Gonzalez
From Envelope T Skin Exploration Of The Facade As A Synthetic Organic Material, Eduardo Gonzalez
Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones
Building facades comprise a large area of unexplored potential. Facades present large surface footprints in the archetype of the high-rise and tower buildings; which, if properly designed, can benefit from the direct contact to the sun, light, wind, and water to solve multiple energy and environmental issues at different levels.