Landscape Architecture Commons^™

Space Between: Navigating Openness, Torie Stotz

Masters Theses

In a predominantly human-made, constructed world, I am exploring how I can manifest the natural world with a hand made screen divider system, based on form and structure, that replicates that of a work of nature, more specifically simulating dappled light. Questioning sustainability through the limitations of terracotta clay, while introducing a passive, bioclimatic design, I explore how a fragile, rounded, hollow fired system impacts its structural integrity and its ability to embed nature like qualities in modular form. Clay is brittle when thin, dry, or water absorbing material is added; it absorbs water slowly, needs to be a certain …

Revitalizing Decay, Owen Carey

Masters Theses

Revitalizing Decay focuses to reimagine brick design, diverging from the conventional standardized brick, to introduce a crafted brick integrated with flora. Through the exploration of innovative sustainable solutions, this research aims to breathe new life into buildings facing advanced decay by embedding flora within the very structure of the brick. Buildings slotted for demolition typically go through a long process of approvals, signatures, etc. This thesis also aims to address the long process and instead pose an intervention that would streamline a typical demolition plan. With a primary focus on enhancing air quality, ensuring cost efficiency, and offering a temporary …

Asylum Architecture: The Brick-By-Brick Development Of Patient Treatment, Kris D. Sass

The Purdue Historian

The following research and analysis will investigate the intersection of architecture and treatment in asylums with a specific interest on the time period of the late 19^th century to mid-20^th century in the United States. Not only were specific environmental demands key to some treatment methodologies, such as rural environments to moral therapy, but the architecture of mental hospitals were integral parts of patient’s experiences. Here three specific hospital designs will be analyzed: the Kirkbride Plan, the Cottage Plan, and Kiyoshi Izumi’s Socio-Petal. The following analysis will be built on a series of blueprints, building notes, secondary histories, …

Analyse Permeability And Integration In Architectural Landscapes To Create A Seamless Environment, Ensuring Ease Of Movement And Blending With The Surrounding Environment., Amira Fawzy Helmy Almaz

Journal of Engineering Research

The study explores the understanding of connectedness, integration, and axial route selection in urban parks using space syntax. It uses the Theory of Space Syntax to analyze georeferenced photographs and urban morphology data. The findings suggest that creating rules for integration and linkage that directly influence users' decision-making processes could lead to significant improvements in urban parks.

The study discusses space syntax as an architectural concept that views architecture as an interface between public and private spaces, analyzing landscapes through mirroring and focusing on internal configurations and exteriors. The study proposes a method to measure permeability and integration in urban …

Creating An Index To Graduate Theses To Support Their Discoverability, Ellen Petraits

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

As a Research and Instruction Librarian, one of the most frequent questions I'm asked is how to find past theses on a particular topic or theme. There is an active thesis culture at RISD that goes beyond writing and binding a text. An exhibition is held in the graduate gallery to celebrate a curated selection of theses at the beginning of the academic year. (See Book of Thesis Books) Theses can range in format from an artist book to a loose-leaf portfolio. Many emphasize the visual and are a bridge to the student’s studio work. They may include unusual or …

Beyond Burial - Transforming Death: A New Ritual Of Farewell And The Ecological Return Of The Body To Nature, Chang Xie

Masters Theses

Burial and funeral culture have been shaped by human self-awareness and reflect an anthropocentric worldview. The modern funeral industry's multi-billion-dollar enterprise is based on the principle of protecting, sanitizing, and beautifying the corpse to promote the idea of human exceptionalism. However, this practice overlooks the natural process of decay and the potential beauty in returning the body to the earth, with which the body shares the same chemical basis as the earth itself. Modern science has provided Eco-friendly green burial methods, such as soil modification, ice burial, and water burial, making it suitable to contribute to natural ecology using human …

Glowing Under The Bridge—A Healing Space For Wounded Souls, Ruier Zhao

Masters Theses

The suicide rate among Chinese adolescents is significantly higher than the world average, with academic stress and family relationships being the major causes. This thesis focuses on building a place for Chinese students from upper elementary school to high school, where they can regulate their psychology, relax, and ideally reduce the rate of impulsive suicides.

In Chongqing, the percentage of students who attempt or commit suicide is close to 25%. The proposed site for this place of rest is under the bridge of one of Chongqing’s most crowded monorail stations, which is a semi-abandoned park with a beautiful view of …

Nature As Material, Time As Tool, Chuchu Chen

Masters Theses

No building stands forever. Over time, the natural environment acts upon the outer surface of the building, leading to the failure of materials and the final dissolution of the structure itself, leading to ruin. In order to prevent this or retard its occurrence, we constantly maintain and renew the things we build. Nature seems to stand in opposition to architecture. The passage of time is constantly subtracting from the building. However, what differentiates nature from architecture? This thesis questions whether these two are not opposed, but on a continuous spectrum. Approaching the building as part of the overall environment that …

The Dwelling And The Shed: Redefining The Homestead, Ryan Mattox

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The homestead is the frontier of exploration. It is the place that shows people can take care of themselves through self-sufficient means. This place also looks at making a more sustainable population. That is partly due to the individual needing to take care of the environment around themselves so that the environment can provide for them.

My thesis project will look to create a technological and sustainable residential module that can be replicated and modified to create community based on self-sufficiency by means of sustainability. To achieve this goal, my thesis will look at combining the architectural elements of the …

(Not) Knowing, Jared Friedman

Theses and Dissertations

Jared Friedman’s work creates monuments out of banal common objects. Through acrylic paintings on- Astroturf, burlap, canvas, and upholstery fabric- he explores the ambiguity of the unremarkable, such as the condenser coils on the back of a refrigerator. In, (Not) Knowing, he parses the difference between knowing and understanding.

Adaptive Reuse Of Frosty Morn, Veronika Kalugina, Rebecca Tonguis, Heidi Gabriel, Peyton Kauffman

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Frosty Morn, a former meat packing facility in Clarksville, TN, is now abandoned, dilapidated, and partially demolished. The site sits within the Red River District neighborhood, which consists of a diverse community of artists. The Red River District has been identified by the Clarksville Mayor’s Office as an area with potential for growth, catalyzed by repurposing the Frosty Morn building as an icon and beacon of the community. Highest and best use research, in addition to community voices, indicated programmatic needs of a farmer’s market, makerspaces, small business incubators, park space, and live/work units. Our presentation will describe how this …

A Preliminary Study Of Perceptions Of Community Hospitals In Cairo, Egypt: Towards Healthy Environmental Design, Veronica Iskander

Theses and Dissertations

Hospitals are a place that people dread and often avoid. Negative experiences in hospitals can contribute to pain and suffering, as well as to stress, loss of control and overall discomfort. While architecture has the power to heal when designed and maintained, it also has the power to harm if not done right. Each architectural element then has the potential to either reduce stress or contribute to it. From the location of the hospital to the colors used, there are many factors that work together to create a safe welcoming space promoting healing for all. In this study, a checklist …

Transdisciplinarity In Experience Design: A Global Survey Of Higher Ed Programs In Exd/Xd, Yvonne Houy

Creative Collaborations

In our age of ubiquitous devices and digital media it is the perceived value of the end-to-end experience that brings people to a place. Designing inspiring and emotionally engaging end-to-end experiences requires experts in a wide range of disciplines committed to an interdisciplinary collaboration that can arrive at transdisciplinary design - the sum becomes greater than its parts.

Civil engineering, hospitality, business, psychology, digital User Experience (UX) design, and experience data analysis need to be seamless integrated with the fine and performing arts and design fields:

• Architecture, interior, landscape and sound design actively engage the senses.

• Graphic and fine arts …

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The Nolan House, Keiko-Ann K. Sanders, Gilbert C. Munoz, Michael A. Bahr, Titas Kalvalnis

Architectural Engineering

As a precedent, The Green Team analyzed the history of glass architecture, literature, and culture. Based on our research, we found that glass is often depicted as breakable, delicate, and a way to expose or display aspects that would otherwise be hidden. We challenged ourselves to incorporate safety and privacy into our glass house as a way to combat the pre-existing notions of glass in architecture.

Collage, Perspective, And Space: The Consequences Of The Method Of Mies Van Der Rohe, Daniel Barker

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

The method in which architects design space has the capacity to shape the manifestation of the built work. Architect Mies van der Rohe is one of the most noteworthy designers to exhibit this in his method of design: collage. This inquiry investigates the connection between the collages and the architecture of Mies van der Rohe, and how his use of collage defined the language of the architecture he created.

The investigation studied the collages and architecture of Mies van der Rohe through a design process investigation. Collages were made in the same language as Mies and used as a …

Libre Mujer: Un Espacio Para La No Violencia. Centro De Recuperación Y Resocialización Para Mujeres Víctimas De Violencia Intrafamiliar, Localidad De Bosa (Bogotá)., Laura Daniela Torres Bolaños

Arquitectura

La violencia doméstica es un fenómeno que recientemente ha recibido amplia atención por parte del público y los círculos académicos, es por eso, que muchas mujeres necesitan ayuda y protección debido a las amenazas constantes de muerte a causa de sus agresores. Para ello, se establecio crear un sistema de Casas Refugio para mujeres víctimas de violencia, esto con el fin de salvaguardar la vida de ellas y sus hijos. Sin embargo las casas refugios existentes no son suficientes para suplir las necesidades tanto básicas como emocionales de las personas afectadas.

Es por ello que en este documento se plantean …

Horizonte Quibdiseño Vivienda Sostenible A Través Del Diseño Colaborativo En El Pacífico Colombiano, Quibdó., Ivone Stefany Castro Segura, Angélica Tatiana Yaima Córdoba

Arquitectura

Quibdó la capital chocoana, cuenta con una gran biodiversidad y una localización privilegiada, debido a la unión entre el Mar Caribe, el Océano Pacífico y los ríos Atrato y San Juan, descubrió unas condicio-nes climáticas extremas, altos índices de pluviosidad, además de una extraordinaria cultura que lo hacen un territorio mágico y único.

Sin embargo, tiene el mayor IPM (Índice de Pobreza Multidimensional) del país, lo cual ha generado una situación problema con relación a la vivienda, debido a sus precarias condiciones de habitabilidad, la falta de acceso a servicios públicos, problemas de saneamiento y riesgo por desastres naturales; a …

Brutalism And The Public University: Integrating Conservation Into Comprehensive Campus Planning, Shelby Schrank

Masters Theses

The University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Commonwealth’s flagship campus, is home to several Brutalist buildings. Similar to other buildings of this genre, they have gone unrecognized for their importance to the campus and their prominent architectural significance. Additionally, due to the ravages of close to 50 years of exposure coupled with limited maintenance and, in some instances, neglect they are now at a point where restorative maintenance is critical in ensuring their future contribution to the campus.

This thesis addresses the importance of creating a comprehensive, long-term plan for these buildings, by first looking to the University’s most prominent, yet …

El Equipamiento Como Herramienta Para El Fortalecimiento Y Desarrollo Integral. Centro Cultural Y Deportivo En Nemocón, Cundinamarca, Daniel Eduardo Ríos Castillo, Fabian Alberto Martínez González

Arquitectura

No abstract provided.

Bathing Habit And Lifestyle Changing Bathroom Design And Facilities, Sri Fariyanti Pane

International Review of Humanities Studies

Indonesian people to have a habit of cleaning themselves by bathing with cold water. Hot climate and pollution make our activity in a bath twice a day, morning and afternoon or evening. The bathing habits depending on environmental circumstances in which they are located, whether in the village or in the city. Changes affecting the bathing habits of the interior design of a bathroom and shower. The interior design of the house, especially the bathroom and the toilet is required by the city people have different lifestyles with villagers. Social status to be a difference urban life, lifestyle became a …

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 …

The Wheel House - An Intergenerational Space Creating Bonds Between At-Risk Teens And Seniors, Jessica M. Keegan

Theses and Dissertations

MOTIVATION

Two main groups in American society today are floundering: adolescent children of low income families and the elderly.

Between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 p.m., one in five children are unsupervised. Left to their own devices, many become involved in negative behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse, sexual activity or in the worse cases, delinquency (Afterschool Alliance, 2016). It is proven that when children are alone after school, they not only miss out on valuable learning opportunities, but also their parents are affected as well by having to lose as many as eight work days annually to …

My Catalyst, Gabrielle Gambino Lyon

Celebration of Learning

Over the course of my internship and shadow program with Pepper Lawson Construction and Ziegler Cooper Architects, I was able to explore the various career paths involved in the design, construction, and civil engineering fields. My work on the construction site of a high-rise apartment building located in the heart of Houston, TX allowed me first-hand experience working and learning alongside project engineers, contractors, building developers, and the construction team.

This project was the perfect confluence of my main areas of interest: structural, mechanical, civil, and environmental engineering, as well as architecture. My daily work consisted of on-site walk throughs, …

Tokyo 20/20

SIGNED: The Magazine of The Hong Kong Design Institute

With the Olympic and Paralympic Games heading to Tokyo in 2020, the city is going through a flurry of urban development and design change. And the revitalisation of public space is at the heart of the project

The Enhancement Of Learning Through The Design Proccess: Renovating The Fort River Elementary School In Amherst, Ma, Reyhaneh Bassamtabar

Masters Theses

The purpose of my thesis is to discover a logical way to connect the ideas of Rudolf Steiner, developer of the Waldorf Education Method, and current theories of education and psychology with the architectural design of an educational facility while maintaining Massachusetts Department of Education standards. With this purpose in mind, I studied a school, built in 1973 in Amherst: the Fort River Elementary School. The current school structure is in architectural conflict with many of the ideas extolled by the Waldorf Method. Among the questions, I wish to address in my thesis are: “What is the role of architecture …

Vertex: A Compendium Of Research And Design, Alberto De Salvatierra, Alfredo Fernandez-Gonzalez, Samantha Solano, Josh Vermillion, Attila Lawrence, Dak Kopec, Phillip Zawarus, Glenn Nowak, Eric Weber, Rafael Armendariz, Nancy J. Uscher

VERTEX Annual Publication

From the foreword: Vertex was organized to showcase some of the UNLV School of Architecture’s most prominent areas of strength. Our multidisciplinary design foundation program is the initial building block that instills in students an ethos of systematic inquiry through making. Appropriately structured processes of experimentation and production using a variety of tools and media help students develop significant spatial understandings through the sequential act of drawing and making. The spatial understandings developed in the design foundation, supplemented by a culture of inquiry through making that is cultivated in our design studios, prepare our students to creatively engage in a …

Exploring The Value Of Interprofessional Collaboration Between Occupational Therapy And Design: A Pilot Survey Study, Amy Wagenfeld, Lori Reynolds, Tamar Amiri

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Consistent with the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Vision 2025, interprofessional partnerships between occupational therapy and designers is necessary to “maximize health, well-being, and quality of life for all people . . . through effective solutions that facilitate participation in everyday living” (2016, para 1). Occupational therapy’s knowledge of the person-environment-occupation fit appears to make us well suited to collaborate with design teams to create environments that facilitate optimal function and promote health and well-being (Ainsworth & de Jonge, 2014).

Method: Two short closed-ended online questionnaires were designed to gain an understanding of designer and occupational therapy practitioner impressions of …

Provenance Of Place And Past: Designing A Bathhouse For Charlottesville (Online), Maya Chandler

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

Site, to an architect, should comprise not only the topographical and physical markers of the place, but also the cultural, historical, atmospheric, ritualistic, or intangible qualities of place. New projects ask us to examine what has preceded the proposed architecture and invite it into the work that we place on a site—not ignoring the past, mowing it down, or covering it up—but allowing it to point us in the direction of an architectural intervention. This project redesigns the historic Albemarle County Jail in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, into a bathhouse. The place-based bathhouse design acknowledges several key elements in the jail’s …

Legends, Myths, And Facts Of Kylemore Abbey, Jennifer J. Fink

Faculty Curated Undergraduate Works

Nestled in the side of a mountain in the west of Ireland is the iconic Kylemore Abbey Castle. This paper explores the history of this structure by examining the legends, myths, and facts behind it and the surrounding land. The myths and legends are linked to Ireland’s old Celtic beliefs and explain much of the interesting landscape surrounding the massive structure. Majority of the paper focuses on the factual history of Kylemore which starts from the first construction of the castle all the way to how it is being used today. The Victorian castle has had many owners throughout the …