Interior Architecture Commons^™

The Current State Of Practice Of Building Information Modeling, Kevin P. Brooks

Masters Theses

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has become extremely prominent in the construction industry in the past twenty years. It serves as a digital repository that can, when used to its fullest potential, combine all aspects of designing, building, and managing a structure in one place, alongside all the data produced in those processes. The construction industry has to date struggled to increase productivity alongside similar fields, such as the manufacturing industry, though the construction industry generally has far more stakeholders on one project than the manufacturing industry. Further, building designs are becoming more complex while project schedules are becoming tighter. As …

Umass Dartmouth Science And Engineering (Seng) Building Systems Upgrades Project, Jillian Cornelius

UMassBRUT Community

Although UMass Dartmouth's Science and Engineering Building has long been viewed as an architectural treasure, its aging interior and structure have presented some challenges to users nearly 50 years after it opened. This talk examines Ellenzweig's extensive retrofitting of the UMass Dartmouth SENG building for accessibility, a new envelope, updated MEP, and fire-safety measures. After looking at the design phase and interactions with the Mass Historic Commission, the talk ends with an examination of the replacement of windows in the building.

Approaches To Renewing Brutalist-Era Lab Buildings, Jean Caroon

UMassBRUT Community

Given the immense amount of embodied carbon that mid-century Brutalist structures represent, we must redirect our focus from demolishing these concrete structures to renovating them to fit our needs in the 21st century. Higher education laboratory buildings from the 1960s and 1970s are a particularly challenging type of facility. This talk describes the work that Boston architecture firm Goody Clancy has recently undertaken in renovating over 1 million square feet of lab building space. The talk not only covers specific retrofits and envelope improvements to science buildings, such as the Gant Science Complex at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, …

Intermodal Transit Terminal: Integrating The Future Of Transit Into The Urban Fabric, Guy Vigneau

Masters Theses

The very foundation of transportation relies on its ability to efficiently move people and goods through a transitional space. Transportation hubs are key to achieving this goal. However, many transit terminals are outdated or poorly designed to fit the needs of the modern world. At the core of this thesis are two overarching questions. First, how do we design intermodal transit terminals so that they successfully integrate into an existing urban fabric? Second, how do we design for innovative modes of transportation, such as hyperloop technology? This thesis explores how architectural design can recover existing transit connections within an urban …

Photosynthesizing The Workplace: A Study In Healthy And Holistic Production Spaces, Kaeli Howard

Masters Theses

Throughout time nature has been a prescribed healer of stress on the human condition. Its vital integration into our daily lives has been proven by scientific evidence. The majority of Americans spend approximately 1/3 of their life working, whatever that job may entail. Therefore, it makes sense that the environments that we spend so much of our life in for work at extremely important to our physical and mental health, however, current workplace models are not acknowledging that. Redefining the workplace to integrate nature would start to change work life in this country and how work itself is viewed.

This …

Architectural Synergy: A Facility For Lifelong Learning In Academia And Practice, Ryan Rendano

Masters Theses

Historically, a disconnect has existed between the education and practice of architecture. Architectural education has long prided itself on the value of creative problem-solving, research, and the fine arts. In contrast, the practice of architecture has evolved to emphasize technical knowledge, specialization, communication, business, and collaboration. This disconnect has led education to miss opportunities to teach students business skills and knowledge required for the workplace, and allowed practice to lose sight of the importance of artistry and research. Architecture educators, students, and practitioners each have a unique set of knowledge and skills to offer the other, and a corresponding set …

Z-Cube: Mobile Living For Feminist Nomads, Zi Ye

Masters Theses

Homes proclaim our social standing and reflect the trend of the times. This project seeks to explore and redefine the relationship between modern homes and modern women who strive for mobile life styles.

Modernism and globalization have brought us a new way of living that could have never been imagined before— our workspace and homes are no longer limited to a specific unit but have extended to the entire globe. The physical changes compelled by modernity have also complemented the changing role of women. Since the beginning of the 20th century, modern women have expanded their lives outside of their …

Merging Social Science And Neuroscience In Architecture: Creating A Framework To Functionally Re-Integrate Ex-Convicts, Kylie A. Landrey

Masters Theses

Every year the United States corrections system costs tax payers $52 billion. The failures of the prison system are both tangible and intangible. This Thesis research builds on existing literature to seek out a solution to the high rate of recidivism post release.

Can design be employed as a tool with the potential to reduce rates of recidivism in the prison population? The City of Springfield, in Western Massachusetts, acts as a test case to examine the inter-relationships of social science, neuroscience, and architecture. Initial research identified the primary obstacles individuals face after prison that contribute to keeping recidivism rates …

Umass Amherst Green Building Guidelines 2013, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Ted Mendoza, Ezra Small, Patricia O'Flaherty, Nariman Mostafavi, Mohamed Farzinmoghadam, Somayeh Tabatabaee Pozveh

Campus Planning Reports and Plans

Facilities & Campus Services, Sustainable UMass and Campus Planning support sustainability and energy conservation initiatives by providing in-house resources to campus staff as well as designers and contractors working with the University. The UMass Amherst Green Building Guidelines provide a framework for approaching new construction and major renovation projects at UMass Amherst that are undergoing LEED certification by focusing the conversation on green building aspects that are most important to the campus. They are intended to be the beginning of a dynamic conversation between designers, environmental consultants and constructors, university stakeholders, and users of new high performance buildings.

A Place Of Dwelling For Graduate Students, Garth H. Schwellenbach

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The lives of graduate students are often insular and focused, with high workloads and resultant stresses. Beyond the unifying demands of academia, graduate students have a diverse set of individual challenges. Some students have families, some are visiting the US and learning to live in a new culture, and some are fresh out of undergraduate studies and living on their own for the first time. In addition to these challenges the graduate student body is a diverse and disparate group, representing varied cultures, experiences and generations. Due to these demands and circumstances the students have little time and energy to …

Situated Architecture In The Digital Age: Adaptation Of A Textile Mill In Holyoke, Massachusetts, Dorcas A. Brooks

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The City of Holyoke, Massachusetts is one of many aging, industrial cities striving to revitalize its economy based on the promise of increased digital connectivity and clean energy resources. But how do you renovate 19th century mills to meet the demands of the information age? This architectural study explores the potential impact of sensing technologies and information networks on the definition and function of buildings in the 21st century. It explores the changes that have taken place in industrial architecture since 1850 and argues for an architecture that supports local relationships and environmental awareness. The author explores the industrial history …