Department: Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture ![[clear]](close-x.png "Remove this limiter")
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1.
Al-Ansari, Mae.
Irreducible Essence: Tectonics and Cultural Expression in Traditional Forms of Kuwaiti Dwelling.
Degree: MSARCH, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2011, University of Cincinnati
► The adoption of new construction techniques and materials, after the sudden shift…
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▼ The adoption of new construction techniques and materials, after the sudden shift in Kuwait's economy in the 1950s, yielded an architecture that is today locally unsuitable. This thesis attempts to reconnect Kuwait's rich heritage with its lost architectural identity through explorations of the ways in which architectural tectonics express culture in traditional forms of Kuwaiti dwelling. Tectonics comprises relationships between structure, surface, and assembly; what Kenneth Frampton calls poetic construction. The irreducible essence of the building unit informs architectural form. Tectonics, as Marco Frascari and Vittorio Gregotti claim, is expressed in relationships between part-to-whole, material, texture, surface, and joinery, all capable of articulating specificities of culture and context. Analytical approaches are used to study architectural drawings, sketches, and photographs to interpret the cultural expressiveness of tectonics. Archives, artwork, and books support inferences about culture, construction methods, and assembly. Detailed tectonic interpretations of three Kuwaiti case studies (the mud-brick beit, Bedouin beit sha'ar, and the dhow) support these claims, exploring questions such as: How does tectonics relate to architecture? To culture? How is this relationship expressed? What socio-economic, religious, political, and historical contexts shaped pre-1950s Kuwaiti building culture? How is culture tectonically manifest in each traditional form of dwelling? This work affirms the ways in which tectonics is linked to culture, reinforcing details as tell-tales of culture and valuable elements in architecture and its discourse. This thesis bridges architectural identity with culture, present with past, and Western architectural theory with Eastern architecture, to enhance and better appreciate the built environment and the profession.
Advisors/Committee Members: Kanekar, Aarati.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: Tectonics; Architectural identity; Architectural theory; Architecture - Kuwait; Kuwaiti culture; Traditional dwellings
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2.
Ali, Sarosh.
Transitional Design: Connecting Space, People, and Architecture.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2011, University of Cincinnati
► Through the decentralization of industry, and the shift from an industrial to…
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▼ Through the decentralization of industry, and the shift from an industrial to a more service based economy, large-scale industry and shipping has moved away from city centers. This shift has left behind postindustrial waterfront sites, where cities have re-centralized away from the water’s edge, with severe rifts between the urban core and the waterfront. This is most evident at the site designed by Daniel Burnham, as a part of the 1903 Group Plan, to be the social, industrial and political center for the city of Cleveland. He envisioned a public space connected to and stimulated by the surrounding civic buildings as well as activity generation from the Union Terminal at the apex of the malls, however this was never completely realized when the transit station was moved to Terminal Tower. The effects of this action coupled with those of deindustrialization led to the current void that exists between the cities’ urban core and that of its lakefront, hindering any efforts for the preservation or use of this historically significant site. This thesis will address that disconnect through a exploration of the historical context, current needs, and future potential by creating a transitional design that will bridge the current void between the urban core and the lakefront. Transitional design within the context of this thesis encompasses the visualization of the space between spaces; the threshold which delineates the transition point from one place to another. Transit stations in the past, specifically train stations, have often served as the iconic gateways or thresholds of cities or towns. As such, architectural experience of transitional space can be best expressed through a design of multimodal transit station where notions of movement and space can be explored at a large and urban scale. The methodology of design will focus on using linear movement forces found in Zaha Hadid’s works particularly in MAXXI and the use of public space and landscape in Wiess Manfredi’s Olympic Sculpture Park and in George Hargreaves master plan for the University of Cincinnati to readdress the Malls as way to bridge the void between the city and its lakefront.
Advisors/Committee Members: Bible, George.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: Transition; Transit; Transportation; Cleveland; Void; Movement
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3.
Altman, Andrew.
Branding Architectural Corporate Design.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2012, University of Cincinnati
► Corporate Architecture historically has been a setting for efficiency-driven design. Beginning with…
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▼ Corporate Architecture historically has been a setting for efficiency-driven design. Beginning with the task-oriented workstation, workers have been allocated a predetermined amount of space and given only the tools needed to complete their specified task. As history has shown, this does very little to foster innovation and collaboration within the work place. Understanding the trade-off of efficient design for a collaborative environment is becoming essential to a company's bottom line. In today's market, we are seeing a movement for change of corporate design. Companies are striving for exciting work environments that inspire the staff and set the stage innovation. Large amounts of resources are being used to understand how the workplace can positively influence the bottom line of a company. This quantifying of design influence is the metrics tool that will carry corporate design into the approaching future. Coupled with this metric system is the debate of branded design in architecture. Is it possible for a building to represent the brand values of the corporation it houses? This question has been largely debated between interior designers and architects and has yet to have a clear answer. While there may not be one clear correct answer, research has shown that buildings representing the brand of either the architect or the company within are architecturally significant and merit academic conversation.
Advisors/Committee Members: Tilman, Jeffrey.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: Corporate Architecture
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4.
Ardehali, Afsaneh.
Mood-Consciousness and Architecture: A Phenomenological Investigation of Therme Vals by way of Martin Heidegger’s Interpretation of Mood.
Degree: MSARCH, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2011, University of Cincinnati
► This thesis is an effort to unfold the disclosing power of mood…
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▼ This thesis is an effort to unfold the disclosing power of mood as the basic character of all experiencing as well as theorizing in architecture. Having been confronted with the limiting ways of the scientific approach to understanding used in the traditional theoretical investigations, (according to which architecture is understood as a mere static object of shelter or aesthetic beauty) we turn to Martin Heidegger’s existential analysis of the meaning of Being and his new interpretation of human emotions. Translations of philosophers Eugene Gendlin, Richard Polt, and Hubert Dreyfus elucidate the deep meaning of Heidegger’s investigations and his approach to understanding mood. In contrast to our customary beliefs, which are largely informed by scientific understanding of being and emotions, this new understanding of mood clarifies our experience of architecture by shedding light on the contextualizing character of mood. In this expanded horizon of experiencing architecture, the full potentiality of mood in our experience of architecture becomes apparent in resoluteness of our new Mood-Consciousness of architecture. Martin Heidegger’s interpretation of ‘human condition’ goes against the traditional notions we have inherited from Descartes’ scientific way of thinking. “Dasein,” Heidegger’s new term for ‘human condition,’ is not an object but an “interrelation with the world.” This “mediation” between “ourselves and the world” takes place in a deeper “pre-ontological” level. Dasein’s structure can be analyzed by “attunement” of “understanding” of “mood.” Based on this “interpretation,” architecture, rather than taken as a static object of use or perception, is characterized within a phenomenal mode of experience. Peter Zumthor’s Therme Vals project in Vals, Switzerland, unfolds the “disclosive” power of mood in our experience of space, while “maintaining” the “resoluteness” of the “phenomenal ground” of our experience. In making “transparent” the ultimate “work” in a ‘work of architecture,’ this project gives us a more concrete mode of thinking in our discussions of architecture and discloses the fundamental role of mood in attuning an architectural experience.
Advisors/Committee Members: Hancock, John Eliot.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: Martin Heidegger; Peter Zumthor; Therme Vals; phenomenology; mood; architecture
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5.
Asefa, Azmara.
Wearable Environments: Post Crisis Response Architecture.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2012, University of Cincinnati
► Due to environmental disasters, human rights violations, or civil unrest, refugees are…
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▼ Due to environmental disasters, human rights violations, or civil unrest, refugees are plucked from their homes, shipped around, stripped of value or identity, and reduced to their physical bodies. How can clothing as the most intimate form of shelter respond psychologically and physically to these traumatized bodies by: 1.offering a feeling of safety, 2. reconstructing the trauma story, and 3. connecting the individual to the community? Clothing-making techniques of weaving, wrapping, stitching, fastening, and folding extend into architectural space while providing solutions to typological issues of refugee shelters like multifunctionality, portability, space-saving, and adaptability and conceptual issues of body as site like fusing skin and bones, identity, and rehabilitation. Crisis assumes many forms destroying and displacing the lives and livelihoods of those affected. Crisis is tangibly illustrated in the scenario of disaster, the refugee and the refugee camp, where “the crisis” is the disaster, or catalyst for displacement and drastic change, the refugee is “those affected”, and the refugee camp is the “rehabilitative system” operating post-crisis. The post-crisis system and namely the relationship between spatial environment and users of that system are the focus of this thesis. Firstly, analogous architectural site studies will be conducted on a hypothetical human body, which is the site of wearable environments. Though, different cultures treat, dress, and perceive the human body differently. In instances where the analysis requires cross-cultural input, a sampling of different cultures will be analyzed according to Edward T. Hall’s studies on proxemics in respect to the specific method of analysis. Sex and gender differentiation will be discussed according to the respective cultural norms, the common practice of the UNHCR, and Mary McLeod’s “Undressing Architecture, Fashion, Gender, and Modernity.” However, trauma is the unifying relationship between refugee bodies, and therefore, the unifying element in wearable environments. The evolving etymology of and the theoretical discussions around shelter will be addressed. The current applications of shelter in normative and in crisis situations will provide a benchmark for contemporary solutions through the lens of the theories of Gottfried Semper and the practices of nomadic societies. Ultimately, wearable environments shelter the traumatized body, offering the flexibility and function of shelter through methods of clothes-making while initiating the process of rehabilitation.
Advisors/Committee Members: Kanekar, Aarati.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: architecture; disaster relief; clothing; shelter; refugee
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6.
Badger, Jeffrey R.
Designing for Space, on Earth: Creating More Livable Extraterrestrial Habitats Through Architectural Design.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2012, University of Cincinnati
► Traditionally, space exploration and habitation have existed primarily within the domain of…
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▼ Traditionally, space exploration and habitation have existed primarily within the domain of the engineering field. This has proven sufficiently effective for space-related design challenges, most of which rely on technology and rigorous testing. The short duration and small crew numbers of past missions, along with the ability of the human body and mind to tolerate extreme conditions, have permitted designers to focus on the most immediate and necessary concerns of putting humans into space. But decades of focused research and engineering in space programs, combined with inconsistent budget decisions, have led to a design status quo that is remarkably entrenched and unimaginative. Of particular concern are the limited resources applied toward the design problems of human factors in space. On Earth, architects constantly address these human factors, usually within the built environment. Despite the obvious environmental distinctions between Earth and space, analogous building/user interactions occur for Earth dwellers and astronauts alike. And going beyond architects’ collective experience and facility at human-centered design, extraterrestrial design problems could potentially derive solutions from innovative or previously disregarded works of architectural theory. With an analysis of existing extraterrestrial designs’ deficiencies in human factors and applicable architectural solutions, we can develop principles for the effective synthesis of engineering and architectural responses in future projects.
Advisors/Committee Members: Tilman, Jeffrey.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: architecture; outer space; human factors; livability; flexibility; extreme environment
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7.
Ballok, Brian.
Atmosphere in the City Neighborhood.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2012, University of Cincinnati
► Since 1980, the 147 year old Lemp Brewery complex in south St.…
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▼ Since 1980, the 147 year old Lemp Brewery complex in south St. Louis stands as an empty grey shadow cast in a neighborhood where artists, food vendors and antique shop owners alike are able to make things happen for themselves - where they get a chance to experiment and do things their own way. This attitude serves as a driver which envisions a new type of urbanism for the reactivation of the Lemp, a cathedral of industry and a beacon in the lives of the people of the city. Looking at Richard Forman’s Mosaic Dynamics theories on sustainable ecologies, this thesis aims to apply a framework which allows adaptability and change over time. Standing at 870,000 sf under roof, the Lemp requires an approach which can reconnect the neighborhood, the city, and the region in a way that honors stability over time, not return upon investment. Through the connection of multiple support institutions, an immediate intervention can draw people into the Lemp, which creates interest, viability and most importantly, reactivates through the creation of a physical scaffold for the playing out of open-ended social and cultural activities: an eventscape. (I’m calling it atmosphere) Gernot Böhme describes the term atmosphere as an “almost objective condition, which implies a physical presence of the subject, focuses attention on place, and presupposes a sensory experience.” A quick synonym search of atmosphere reveals terms like air, ambience, aroma, aura, climate, flavor, halo, karma, mood, nimbus, note, odor, patina, smell, temper and vibration. It is exactly these qualities which give us character in a place. In order to reconnect an inactive piece of the city neighborhood past, we will need an atmosphere of variable and varying conditions: multi-layered, multi-cultural and multivalent.
Advisors/Committee Members: McInturf, Michael.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: architecture; urban design; landscape urbanism; adaptive reuse; planning; St. Louis
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8.
Ball, Ryan A.
Nine Lenses of Place: Explorations of Palimpsest and Path.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2012, University of Cincinnati
► Place is omnipresent, it is everywhere and it is inescapable. It provides…
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▼ Place is omnipresent, it is everywhere and it is inescapable. It provides significance and value to the spaces we occupy everyday. Without it we could not locate ourselves in space or time; our environment would be barren, empty, and devoid of meaning. Yet with the rise of globalization, place has often become indistinguishable. The functionality of progress and consumerism has birthed a McDonaldization of place that is no longer discernible as an independent location in space. Architecture as a practice has grown to see the world as its experimental playground. Works of “starchitects” are collected like pieces of fine art, projects are designed from overseas often with little regard for the context they are placed in, and mechanical systems are employed to normalize the environmental qualities of the region. Yet out of this dilution of place has born a resilient architecture of activism. Created in part due to a lack of large-scale infrastructure projects in the United States, this architecture seeks to move beyond physical construction, engaging practice as a social relationship. Often, we look to the past as a place saturated with meaning, character, and charm. This notion stems from our memories, photographs, and accounts; yet this history is not an objective truth. In large part it is a past of subconscious creation, a selective lens through which we remember only what is advantageous. In this case, our perceptual understanding of place is inconsistent with the objective reality; a fact that is trivial given that without perception, place is reduced to a numeric location. The true realization lies in the importance of human perception on the value of place. This essay seeks to understand that value by examining place through nine lenses. The nine lenses are knowing, perception, atmosphere, scale, materiality, geography, evolution, preservation, and inhabitation. These lenses will be further divided into three categories, which are the experiential, inherent, and organic lenses of place. The first are designed to understand the way in which we experience place. These findings will then be utilized to compare the inherent spatial qualities of the built environment and their direct effect upon our experience. We will then examine the organic nature of place to understand the effects of time, growth, and decay upon that value. Central to this thesis discourse is an experimentation in translation between theory, design, and practice. These translations will be articulated as three distinct books that will combine to form my thesis document. The separation between design and practice will be the translation between site-specific research, analysis, and design to a physical presentation, the end product of this process. To exhibit this translation I have assigned a canvas to each of the nine outlined lenses of place. These canvases will become working drawings, which through layering and iteration will be a means to translate the theories, discoveries, and design solutions of this thesis exercise into a presented product. These iterations will be documented but continually overridden, creating a distinct palimpsest of process and thought.
Advisors/Committee Members: Tilman, Jeffrey.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: Place; Path; Cincinnati; Palimpsest; Park; Hillsides
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9.
Bartell, Christopher R.
FOOD-ASTRUCTURE: Re-Articulating the Architectural Space of Food Distribution.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2012, University of Cincinnati
► Abstract a. Material processes and their catalysts shape urban and exurban morphology.…
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▼ Abstract a. Material processes and their catalysts shape urban and exurban morphology. b. Food distribution is an example of a material process. Its catalysts are globalization, deregulation and capital accumulation. c. The current model of food distribution neglects local needs, forcing localities to work within globalized structures. d. Society is already seeing the effects/failures of this distribution network: inequalities in food access (and related diseases), lack of food security, unresponsive built environments and the dismantling of the urban core are some of the more visible signs. e. While the current condition is undesirable, this thesis explores the idea that, by changing the forces that deploy food distribution, one can effectively augment the landscape to better suit social imperatives. f. Infrastructural/Landscape Urbanism is a design solution equipped to answer this problem because it develops from an understanding of the local (social conditions and natural systems) and builds a system that works with (as opposed to on top of) the site.
Advisors/Committee Members: McInturf, Michael.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: Architecture; Material Process; Distribution; Landscape; Food; Urbanism
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10.
Beighle, Kory A.
Actualizing Movements_ Exposing Time in the Everyday Through Systems of Reaction.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2011, University of Cincinnati
► “What would it change in our arts, our sciences, and our technics…
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▼ “What would it change in our arts, our sciences, and our technics if time were conceived of as something real?” With these words Sanford Kwinter begins his work Architectures of Time, an exposition of contemporary western society and its superstructure. Kwinter illustrates how this structure methodically abstracts reality in a futile attempt to control and know it. Marc Augé expands upon this idea in Non-Places: An Introduction to Supermodernity,suggesting that non-places (where the place becomes absent form itself and individualism is lost to the system) have emerged from this structure of abstractions. Together these works define one cause of anxiety in modern society. Assuming that a “real” or experiential conception of time as a fluid “becoming-ever-different” might help remedy these societal anxieties, my work expands upon Kwinter and Augé’s theories to question the role of architecture in non-places. This study suggests one method of expressing “real time” in an architectural medium by tapping into perceptual experience (opposed to formalized theories of experience), the nature of making as a systemic process (in contrast to taxonomy of objects in typologies), and the concept of reactionary design (juxtaposed to ideas of movement as prescriptive and ordered). This proposed methodology falls somewhere between daydreaming (the loss of time) and the act of meditation, participating in the system of abstractions subtly to discover a way of working in such an environment. To approach the questions raised above, an interdisciplinary exploration of the limits of architecture and film is undertaken, both of which are media whose products engage the space-time continuum. This study evolves into the identification of a series of operations, refined through the development of documentation techniques and a constructed system. The built system is distilled further, transformed into a tool of reaction (contrasting the prescriptive systems articulated by those who see architecture as consumable goods). These processes become tools of marking and exposing the actuality of temporal flux while emphasizing the experience of the passage of time; they work to suggest that an intentional pause at everyday life’s in-between might encourage a heightened awareness of place, context and experience.
Advisors/Committee Members: Kanekar, Aarati.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: time; non-place; reaction; film; interdisciplinary; experience
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11.
Bergh, Maria.
Community Ecology: Public Interventions for Communities at Risk.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2012, University of Cincinnati
► Formality has always connoted propriety, definition, and order. Informality, on the other…
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▼ Formality has always connoted propriety, definition, and order. Informality, on the other hand, is fertile, suggestive, and simultaneous. Art has always allied itself with this “lower” tier of society from which it draws tales, themes, and images more compellingly true to life than the scripted situations of the “mainstream” society. Architecture, urban design, and landscape design, however, have always been complicit in providing definition. Today these two opposing movements express unequal wealth. The first reinforces rigid status systems that proclaim prosperity by isolating or concealing imperfection, particularly in the city. The second movement is increasingly informal, investing in crowd-sourced, electronic, global networks. Each works on a different plane (the virtual versus the real), and yet it is clear from the Arab Spring of 2011 that there is great potential for the virtual to overpower the “real” or apparent. That is, if the real and the virtual coexist and inform each other there is necessarily a liminal condition where the real is subverted to accommodate the unreal. This formation of formal and informal aesthetic and social conventions is in negotiation in social and concrete media today. The apparent (physical, formal, real) is at work concretizing and calcifying existing conditions, formalizing favelas and privatizing parks. At the same time, the virtual (abstract, informal, surreal) materializes as pop-up-shops, informal economies and public fora enabling education and organization on a scale otherwise impossible to achieve. The effort by the formal to limit the informal is an attempt to increase status via separation (segregation) from low-status. The informal uses association to integrate; what is valueless or impoverishing in one context is stimulating and foundational in another; in pop up shops, for example, the exclusive is manifested as excluded. Nothing is rejected. Environmental designers of all disciplines can create egalitarian, liminal, ambiguous spaces that permit free association with and ownership by apparently marginal groups. These spaces are not defined by program but by process, replacing status with participation. They are not “buildings” but “platforms” for use and adaptation. They are not “industrial” or “finished” but both. They are projects of time as much as of space: designed to fascinate, disarming to unite. They accommodate intimacy and publicity gracefully. And if they fail, they exist to be modified and reborn. These spaces subvert the established social division to promote cohesion. Architecture shapes the context, and thus the content of these interactions through form and materials evoking the virtual in the physical via memory and expectation. The final result is common experience, exploration, and ultimately, integration.
Advisors/Committee Members: McInturf, Michael.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: Architecture; Public Space; Liminality; Regenerative Design; Lower Price Hill; Cincinnati
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12.
Bergman, Noah C.
Architecture of Destruction and Renewal.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2012, University of Cincinnati
► As humans, culture, tradition and collective memory are preserved in our built…
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▼ As humans, culture, tradition and collective memory are preserved in our built environment. This thesis investigates themes of identity and place in Japan - a nation in which themes of destruction, renewal and impermanence are ingrained in the national psyche. Finding precedence in modern regionalist and phenomenological theory, the proposed building encourages the continuity of traditional aesthetics and emphasizes their importance in our sense of self and belonging. Set against the backdrop of coastal Tohoku, the eastern coast of Japan decimated by the 2011 tsunami, the Minamisanriku Community Pavilion offers a place for citizens to play, learn and interact. Its classrooms, studios and traditional tatami rooms support social demands and further personal enrichment. The design recognizes the community’s long history of craftsmanship, manifesting itself in multiple design drivers. Exemplified by spiritual aesthetics of transience, decay and natural simplicity, the material palette includes bamboo, hardwood and thatch. Joinery evoking traditional construction alludes to local handiwork; a bamboo mesh references the local fishing industry for example, while open spatial organization reflects the distinctly Japanese concept of emptiness as object. Reuse of desiccated trees from the town temple imbues the structure with a sense of memorial and remembrance. The Minamisanriku Community Pavilion strives to underscore the cultural legacy of a rural town decimated by natural disaster. Ultimately, it encourages local efforts to preserve sentimental remnants vital to individual and collective identities.
Advisors/Committee Members: Kanekar, Aarati.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: Architecture; Japan; Regional; Identity; Minamisanriku
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13.
Botez, Ana.
Rich Materiality: A Hermeneutic Approach to Byzantine Architecture.
Degree: MSARCH, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2011, University of Cincinnati
► In my thesis, I will look at Byzantine architecture in order to…
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▼ In my thesis, I will look at Byzantine architecture in order to throw light on the issue of building new Orthodox Christian churches. I will introduce specific terms such as Orthodoxy, Tradition, Byzantine (the place of Byzantine art and architecture in Orthodox Christianity), hermeneutics, as well as the reasons why a fresh approach to Orthodox Christian church design is necessary. Romanian artist Horia Bernea proposed “rich materiality” as a quality of Byzantine architecture that architects of our time would tend to overlook, and contrasted it with the “dry materiality” of most of the contemporary built environment. Bernea’s use of the term materiality for describing architecture meets, without matching completely, the preoccupations of contemporary architects and theorists such as Kenneth Frampton, Richard Weston, or Michael Benedikt. For Weston, materiality is an emphasis on what materials are, as opposed to what they can do, structurally. For Benedikt, materiality is the quality of things material, perceptible by senses, but also the ability of natural materials to tell the story of their origin and making. Frampton is primarily concerned with tectonics as the poetics of construction, but some of the concepts he explores (tectonic and atectonic, core form and art form, experiencing architecture with the whole body as opposed to a merely visual experience) are useful for understanding Byzantine architecture and its materiality. Specific to Bernea’s approach is his emphasis on the spirituality and worldview that shapes any particular architecture, making its materiality rich or dry. Therefore, the incompatibility between traditional church architecture and the professional culture of contemporary architects is based on the incompatibility of two conflicting worldviews; the conflict cannot be surpassed without a thoughtful hermeneutic approach.
Advisors/Committee Members: Hancock, John Eliot.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: materiality; romanian church architecture; byzantine architecture
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14.
Brackney, Scott S.
Caravanserai: An architectural solution for 21st century labor mobility.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2012, University of Cincinnati
► In this 21st century defined by globalization and connectivity, the mobility of…
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▼ In this 21st century defined by globalization and connectivity, the mobility of labor figures to play a critical role in the potential attainment of both individuals and societies. Opportunities abound around the world for those unwilling to see lines on a map as barriers to entry, with competition for skills and knowledge driving frequent relocation at all levels of society. Understanding the powerful capitalistic undertones of this development, the past 40-50 years have witnessed a revolution of personal identity, where allegiances lie less frequently with country of origin but are instead derived from shared experience of lifestyles, media, and beliefs. The push toward greater mobility, despite its overwhelming momentum, is met with a number of obstacles, from the perceived illegitimacy of the itinerant lifestyle to deeply ingrained notions of “rootedness” in place attachment. Equally problematic, contemporary building stock and urban conditions remain fundamentally ill-suited to accept rapid population turnover without fears of marginalization. A coordinated development of architecture, infrastructure, and culture is necessary to overcome these stumbling blocks, achieving a better understanding of how societies can live harmoniously with mobility. In particular, this project analyzes the needs of the global demographic with the highest latent potential for economic and social mobility, an amalgamation of creative class and skilled laborers termed collectively as “migrant professionals.”
Advisors/Committee Members: McInturf, Michael.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: architecture; mobility; globalization; creative class; housing; caravanserai
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15.
Brown, Keith L.
Culture conflict and the phenomena of appropriated space (the 5th approximation).
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2011, University of Cincinnati
► This thesis examines a particular phenomenon of urban conflict, specifically when it’s…
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▼ This thesis examines a particular phenomenon of urban conflict, specifically when it’s in response to the appropriation of a space. The definition of appropriation as it relates to this thesis is; to take possession of, or make use of exclusively for oneself, often without permission. Examples of this has manifest in many forms and scales. Although I refer too many, there is one occurrence I’ve given particular attention too, a local eminent domain battle in Norwood, Ohio. A shift in State Supreme Court rulings on the use of Eminent Domain has sparked legal battles across the nation. In many states it is now legal for a city to use the power of eminent domain, cease your property and turn it over to a private developer. This shift in law has reignited a national debate regarding land use. How do we balance the boundaries of private land ownership and an individual right, versus what is deemed as the communal greater good? How do we define the term “greater good” and when should Eminent Domain be used in order to achieve it? This is one example of many emerging spatial conflict which have direct planning and architectural consequences. Ultimately, this led to questioning the traditional ideology of architecture as being purely a service profession. For the most part, the inherent allegiance of this traditional role has kept architects out of the fight. But shouldn’t the architect, who is generally viewed as the keeper of the built environment, respond in the vast emerging scenarios of spatial conflict? In modern society, it is the artist who has established a tradition of response in reaction to conflict. Therefore I have focused on four roles that the artist has employed as a means of provocation. Specifically, the roles of Instigator, Saboteur, Mediator and Documenter, are used to inspire a series of responses to different aspects of spatial conflict. The intent is not aimed at providing answers but rather provoking more questions regarding these four roles as a means of generating architectural response. In many scenarios the tensions that exist between opposing parties over space are ripe opportunities to propose new spatial relationships. In other scenarios the response is an intentional attempt to heighten tensions, in certain occasions resolution occurs through the elevation of conflict. The process of collage is used throughout the thesis as an underlying antagonistic medium. Collage is used because the act of collage making requires one to take an object out of its original context, place it in a new one - thus appropriating it, creating new tensions, relationships and readings. This document should be critiqued as an example of the principals discussed within.
Advisors/Committee Members: Bible, George.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: eminent domain; collage; culture; conflict; appropriation; architecture
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16.
Bryan, Ashley R.
Identifying with Permanence: Residential Mobility and Place-Based Identity Construction in Post-Socialist Slovenia.
Degree: MSARCH, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2012, University of Cincinnati
► Housing in Slovenia is caught in the intersection between its modernizing, capitalist…
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▼ Housing in Slovenia is caught in the intersection between its modernizing, capitalist housing market and their traditional, or colloquial reliance on localized social systems. This collision is evidenced in their current residential mobility rate, which is exceedingly low for a country on the free market. Instead of approaching the discussion from a critique of residential immobility, as is common in Western housing studies, this thesis reverses the argument. The flip side of residential immobility is understood as an increased degree of permanence; residential permanence. Permanence, according to sense of community theory, is place-based, creates an increased sense of belonging, and is an active participant in the construction of identity. While the transitioning Slovenian housing market attempts to provide more diverse housing options, it will, in effect increase residential mobility. Subsequently, those social systems that grounded the traditions of permanence are in danger of being lost. While the intersection between the traditional mode of permanence and modern mode of mobility is discussed in the Slovenian context, the value of both modes will provide a timely reflection on housing in the US. As a system that is heavily dependent on the economic participation of the housing industry, the US housing market, in recent years, has dramatically reduced its residential mobility rate. As a reflection, this study will introduce a new perspective into the contemporary US housing debate that illuminates the value of residential permanence in situations of immobility.
Advisors/Committee Members: Snadon, Patrick.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: Identity; Residential Mobility; Residential Permanence; Housing; Post-Socialist; Slovenia
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17.
Bucheit, Charles.
Death and the Detail: Moments of engagement along a Catholic cremation ritual procession.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2012, University of Cincinnati
► Contemporary architecture is increasing being reduced to a singular image of a…
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▼ Contemporary architecture is increasing being reduced to a singular image of a building, which often lacks articulation of its parts. This disengages architecture from the poetic expressiveness of its nature rooted in construction and negates the detail in the process. Adapting the typology of detail engagement from Edward R. Ford’s book, The Architectural Detail, this thesis will use the detail to express issues of structure, construction, performance, and program use. Focusing on the human narrative presented by the Catholic ritual of cremation, this project seeks to create meaning and engagement through corresponding moments of detail within the design of a crematorium facility in Delhi Township (Cincinnati) Ohio. While engaging the user in realities of the building as a construction, these details mark, accentuate, and support moments of the funeral procession which culminates in a hilltop committal of the ashes overlooking the Ohio River Valley. The richness of space and clarity of design expressed through the detail helps to prepare the bereaved for the difficult thoughts and emotions and create a sense of engagement. This thesis design presents several moments that, while articulated in different ways, create a family of details that resonate with one another. The richness of the detail family helps generate and articulate the building design at all scales beginning at the smallest.
Advisors/Committee Members: Hancock, John Eliot.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: Detail; Cremation; Procession; Catholic; Chapel; Construction
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18.
Burlij, Larissa.
Infrastructure as Landscape: Imagining an Operative Ecology along the Cuyahoga River.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2012, University of Cincinnati
► The 21st century marks a paradigm shift for landscape and architecture projects.…
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▼ The 21st century marks a paradigm shift for landscape and architecture projects. Issues of pollution and contaminant control represent not simply a trend in the greater social consciousness, but suggest a residual reordering of landscape and architectural design priorities. The emerging dialogue has manifested from abandoned and de-industrialized urban, airfield, industrial and military sites – the residues of a Fordian era, and its evolving principles have gained momentum in the works of several contemporary landscape architects. This leads to the proposal of an Operative or Working Ecology. James Corner refers to working landscapes as "Terra Fluxus," where "new design strategies employ operational logic over compositional design," and "where urban geographies function across a range of scales, and implicate a host of players." The term bridges the German landschaft, referring to working lands, and landskip, an appreciation of nature's aesthetic. To envision landscape as a working ecology, one might look to de-industrialized cities where ecological infrastructure have corroded over time, yet have the possibility of eliciting the city's potential as a cultural and historic place. Perhaps no better example exists than in the Great Lakes region of the United States, specifically, along the Flats and Industrial Valley of the infamous Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio. This thesis provokes a conceptual armature (and less a formally constructed plan) for imagining an operative ecology along the Cuyahoga River.
Advisors/Committee Members: McInturf, Michael.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: Infrastructure; Landscape; Operative Ecology; Cleveland; Cuyahoga River
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19.
Burns, Kyle.
Re-inventing the National Park Visitor Center.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2012, University of Cincinnati
► National parks and monuments are incredibly important elements of American culture. Preserved…
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▼ National parks and monuments are incredibly important elements of American culture. Preserved in their natural state, they must also be accessible for the enjoyment of society. Unfortunately accessibility usually implies built form, infrastructure, landscape alterations, and other human changes that considerably change the natural terrain of many parks. Although these human changes are essential for the traditional visitor experience, it is necessary for intelligent design, especially architecture, to integrate into the landscapes and natural elements of the park. Through personal submersion into multiple national parks across the country, visitor center analysis, and research about modernism’s effects on the park system, it has become apparent that casual design solutions are not enough to effectively allow nature to overtake people’s imprint. Parks that have begun to think about new design processes and ideas include Grand Teton and Yellowstone in Wyoming and Denali in Alaska. Thinking in a direction other than “National Park Rustic” has brought about new forms and unfamiliar volumes, creating a different kind of park experience. The parks have built significant structures on reused sites where former, ineffective buildings once stood and have introduced sustainable strategies to minimize ecological footprints. Considering the history and development of national park architecture, it is interesting to contemplate the individuality of each structure in regards to the character of a particular park. The character of the park must be considered when introducing any man made object into a natural landscape. The latest surge in park design in which park individuality was a major influence occurred in the middle of the century, leaving a lot of possibilities to create a contemporary architecture language relevant to each park. This has created a large gap in the progress of design in national protected areas, creating a contemporary necessity for change, especially in terms of the visitor center. Although they may be the same building type, in this case a visitor center, designs in Colorado’s parks will have significantly different considerations and challenges than buildings in Arizona’s parks. As park rates continue to increase, it is important that facilities and infrastructure within protected lands are able to cater to the needs of visitors. Innovative park design ensures the continued protection of the most important natural spaces within the country. New buildings have the opportunity to replace dilapidated structures or those designed without considering the environmental implications. Architecture within the parks also provides opportunities for smarter development in areas not directly associated with architecture, including modern education methods, recreational opportunities, and ecological studies.
Advisors/Committee Members: Tilman, Jeffrey.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: National Park Service; Mountain; Visitor Center; Recreation; Nature
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20.
Campbell, Kyle L.
From Ubiquitous to Unique: Architecture as Meaningful Threads of Urban Fabric.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2012, University of Cincinnati
► Contemporary buildings, especially in the urban-American Midwest, are ubiquitously bland. This is…
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▼ Contemporary buildings, especially in the urban-American Midwest, are ubiquitously bland. This is not to say there are no good architects or good architecture, but it appears thoughtfulness, innovation and connection are reserved only for those signature buildings, the foreground of architecture. In fact, urban America is copy after copy of the same city with only a few distinguishing landmarks. While foreground buildings are important and act as primary roles in distinguishing place, the majority of the built world, the greater urban fabric, acts as the primary role in defining place. This realm, which shall be called the background or background architecture, is left up to developers and contractors who design based on business models of efficiency and the bottom line, models founded upon global capitalism, consumer society and the will of white, middle-class America. Universally applied, these models result in universally dull projects, which is why if blindfolded and dropped within the grid of Cleveland, Ohio, one may just as likely mistake it as Louisville, Kentucky. Nikolaus Pevsner said, “A bicycle shed is a building; Lincoln Cathedral is a piece of architecture.” Background buildings, particularly in the urban context, are not bicycle sheds, but they are designed as such. They should be well-composed, responsive to local culture and contribute to defining a sense of place. They certainly should not be Lincoln Cathedrals, but as bicycle sheds they are not enriching the society they serve. The foreground may have the power to attract a visitor, but only the background has the power to attract a resident. Contemporary society and architecture’s response to it follows the mode of global modernization. This process, which Kenneth Frampton calls, “universal civilization,” proposes all conditions should be the same everywhere. Progress, under universal civilization, is only achieved through abandonment of culture, disregard of history and the insatiable appetite for tomorrow’s offerings as necessary steps toward becoming “Modern.” As Paul Connerton writes, “Culturally induced forgetting is reinforced by the temporality of consumption, which renders even more inaccessible to immediate perception the process of reification intrinsic to commodity exchange by focusing attention even more insistently on immediate perception.” In other words, our desire for perceived value, our façade, numbs our sense of real value, our core and structure. Global modernization is destroying a local sense of place, that is, “a qualitative, ‘total’ phenomenon, which we cannot reduce to any of its properties…and cannot [describe] by means of analytic, ‘scientific’ concepts" (Norberg-Schulz). Architecture has for too long focused on making spaces—objects placed in an objective field and designed based on objective data—whereas architecture should be about making places. Architecture should not only express global conditions, which are present and undeniable, but it should also reflect local conditions, addressing the reality of diversity with respect to activities, class, ethnicity, people and places. Such localized socio-cultural issues provide the opportunity for architecture to identify and create a sense of place that is unique instead of ubiquitous.
Advisors/Committee Members: Tilman, Jeffrey.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: Place; Meaning; Urban Fabric
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21.
Carlson, Stephanie.
Knowledge Workers: A Psychological Approach to Living and Working.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2011, University of Cincinnati
► This project intends to develop a live-work building for knowledge workers through…
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▼ This project intends to develop a live-work building for knowledge workers through the application of the principles of environmental psychology. The site is located in downtown Austin, Texas—a technology hub with an active urban environment attractive to professionals seeking the flexibility and balance knowledge work provides. Knowledge workers perform symbol work that is neither temporally nor physically bound; however, they still operate within existing spatial constructs that do not address their unique living and working needs. Environmental psychology research can begin to suggest architectural solutions to the physical and psychological issues faced by knowledge workers. The application of this research will be determined through the examination of the tension between living and working spaces, as well as the relationship between public and private. The slow process of drawing by hand brings together the mental and the kinesthetic into a physical form, reflecting an architectural process which attempts to bring together psychology and the physicality of space into a cohesive architecture which supports the work and well-being of knowledge workers.
Advisors/Committee Members: Kanekar, Aarati.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: environmental psychology; fractal; live work; Austin; restoration; knowledge work
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22.
Choto, Jennifer Rudo.
The Info Market: Transformation of the Harare City Library.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2010, University of Cincinnati
► My thesis is a study of the library as a building type…
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▼ My thesis is a study of the library as a building type in the context of Zimbabwe and is an attempt to architecturally respond to social, economic and environmental conditions in a post-colonial context. The library can be a catalyst for more sustainable development in Africa but will lose its value if it does not adapt to meet the changing socio-economically needs of society. Central to the thesis are two key aims: the integration of new multi-functional hybrid spaces in the library program and the increased permeability of information access. The thesis is a study of what improvements can be made to the existing library program. My exploration draws from the works of post-colonial theorists, and I have identified certain psycho-existential, social, and architectural ‘dualisms.’ My goal is not to achieve ‘universalism,’ through design, rather it is to re-frame these ‘dualisms’ and highlight the value of their reciprocity. The Harare City Library (built in 1963) is the site for this intervention, and is located on the Civic Centre in Zimbabwe’s capital city. The library’s prominent location remains, but its social relevance and accessibility has been diminished over time, exacerbated by the nation’s economic hardships. This proposed renovation and expansion of the library seek to establish the library as vibrant cultural arts and information center with free access.
Advisors/Committee Members: Elleh, Nnamdi.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: Zimbabwe; Post Colonial; Library; Hybrid; Dualism
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23.
Dahlman, Alexandra.
From Seed to Supper: An Urban Permaculture Garden and Community Kitchen.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2011, University of Cincinnati
► Despite the many known benefits of urban agriculture that have been observed…
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▼ Despite the many known benefits of urban agriculture that have been observed recently and over the last few decades, there is still much room for improvement. Common trends in urban food production tend to include either a reluctance, or inability, to work within a city’s bureaucratic hierarchy, or a lack of understanding and creativity to think beyond the existing, traditional farm framework. The grassroots approach to starting and maintaining urban farms might be more appropriate for communities in the short term, but top-down design thinking has the potential to create more long-term solutions that not only incorporate architecture, but also take advantage of the inherent characteristics of urban areas. A hybrid architecture based on permacultural principles is proposed that seamlessly integrates building and landscape to optimize the functions of both. The intended outcome will be a community kitchen and edible landscape located on a small abandoned urban lot that produces food in an ecologically sensitive and low-input process, while providing a place for the storage, cooking and consumption of food. This will result in a stronger, healthier community that has a better understanding of the whole food cycle, allowing its residents to make more informed choices and to increase their accessibility to fresh food.
Advisors/Committee Members: Bible, George.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: permaculture; urban agriculture; food
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24.
Dutton, Marshall H S.
Sanctity of Water.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2011, University of Cincinnati
► Water is one the world’s most abundant substances, yet within modern societies…
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▼ Water is one the world’s most abundant substances, yet within modern societies it is also overlooked as an industrialized commodity. In desert metropolitan areas where water sources and flow has to be heavily manipulated for human consumption the sanctity of water has been lost. Engineered landscapes tame the irregularities of nature but often, waterways are created solely as infrastructure similar to alleyways. For decades, the residents of Maricopa County, Arizona have enjoyed a vast infrastructure that captures and channels throughout the arid climate. It brings water to countless spickets within the fifth largest city in the United States. In an area that receives an average of 8.3inches per year an average Phoenician uses 136 gallons a day. This need has created a separation between society and the environment. As the water is diverted into utilitarian canals, stripped of all vegetation to improve efficiency, the natural riverbed lies as an abandoned wasteland. The 1985 Rio Salado Master Plan outlines a parkland and commercial development that is centered on the 38miles of riverbed running through the metro area. Tempe, a landlocked city within Phoenix metro, incorporated a smaller version within it city limits. These plans include, a 5mile artificial lake, rebuilding Tempe Beach Park, and development of the new waterfront into an oasis-like office park. This creation of “Tempe Town Lake,” has limitations: control of 977,000,000 gallons of open unfiltered water, and steep flood walls prevent wading or shallow swimming. In my argument that follows, furthering the landscape design of the parkscapes and water-related architecture, will allow society to celebrate and reinforce the connection between man and water. Design and planning can rebuild the sanctity of water within desert communities. As a start, the large number of private pools in the Phoenix valley, second only to Los Angeles, place a burden on the water supply. As water resources become stretched, the costs of ownership are steadily increasing. Water shortages and the intense summer heat drives people to public and private bodies of water. In consideration of resources and individual costs, drawing the allure from private pools into a public natatorium will help to alleviate water concerns and can strengthen the regional sense of community.
Advisors/Committee Members: Kucker, Patricia.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: Water; Tempe Town Lake; Sonoran Desert; Swimming Pool; Natatorium; Tempe Beach Park
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25.
Elkin, Daniel K.
Seeking Silence Through GARAP: Architecture, Image, and Connotation.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2011, University of Cincinnati
► The valuation process within architecture attaches connotative meaning to productions of architectural…
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▼ The valuation process within architecture attaches connotative meaning to productions of architectural practice, especially imagery created by the architect. Architecture, through the written word and escalating masculinization of drawing and imagery, transforms visual aesthetic image objects of marks on a page into connoted aesthetic image objects with possible consequences and meaning in the real world. Architects understand this process as imparting meaning to their work and differentiating their practice from the aesthetic praxis of art, understood to be solely aesthetic. However, the relationship between imagery and the consequences illustrated thereby is not so simple in the time of mass-publication of imagery and the simulation of architectural outcomes. The connoted aesthetic objects created by the architect, through repetition and publication, become re-feminized into visual aesthetic objects, carrying along the consequential information imparted by the architect and transforming that information into atrophied signs or consumer demographics. The aesthetic of the architectural image/artifact and consequences or narratives become equated, threatening the reductive degradation of both. Connotation of architectural images, therefore, can work at cross purposes to both architecture and the narratives it attempts to connote. This effect is increasingly prominent, this research will argue, as the indicative property of architectural images- the possibility of construing virtual images as reality- increases through high verisimilitude images, images attempting to include non-visual information, and images attached to socio-cultural claims. This paper argues the possibility that images of these types can insure a connotative connection between aesthetic and narrative that equates the two, allowing the posited feminization. This research will analyze the connection between visual culture and material culture as basis of the connotation of architecture, and propose possibilities for the interrogation of the connotative apparatus. In conjunction, this research shall include a body of design research work investigating imagery and image processes, culminating in a connotative perversion of Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion and the connoted imagery attached thereto. Through the foiled exercises of academic research and structured design play, this research shall seek the limits of the connotation of architectural images, and discover the tentative connection between speculative imagery and consequences thereof
Advisors/Committee Members: Kanekar, Aarati.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: visual culture; baudrillard; barcelona pavilion; connotation; aesthetics; material culture
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26.
Ellis, Andrew J.
Beyond Energy: The Integration of Energy Infrastructure to Support Community Goals.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2011, University of Cincinnati
► Rising energy costs and concerns over human impact on the environment will…
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▼ Rising energy costs and concerns over human impact on the environment will likely cause changes to America’s energy infrastructure. Distributed generation methods, including combined heat and power (CHP) plants, are a likely to be key components of these infrastructure changes. Distributed generation shifts the major generation facilities closer to the energy users rather than relying on large power plants that are located out of sight and far from users. The close proximity that is created between energy generation equipment and the equipment’s users due to distributed generation systems provides power plants with new opportunities to go beyond simply meeting a community’s energy needs to contribute to a community’s goals and represent its values through its planning and design. This thesis will show planning and design strategies that show how the integration of a distributed energy system, including power plants, into a community can be used to address that community’s energy needs and its core, non-energy related goals. This thesis will address strategies and goals related to three community scales: the regional or national scale, the local community scale, and the building community scale.
Advisors/Committee Members: Bible, George.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: integration; distributed; infrastructure; energy; combined heat and power; CHP
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27.
Ellis, Charles.
Direct Radical Intuition: toward an 'Architecture of Presence' through Japanese ZEN Aesthetics.
Degree: MSARCH, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2011, University of Cincinnati
► Currently the field of architectural thinking is steeped in Western discourse. The…
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▼ Currently the field of architectural thinking is steeped in Western discourse. The INTENTIONS of this research are to reveal how ideas of a Direct Radical intuition as an Eastern perspective can be infused into a field of Western dominated architectural thinking paradigm. This investigation into the landscape of architectural theory proposes that a study of Japanese Zen Buddhist aesthetics through ‘Direct Radical intuition’ will draw us toward an ‘Architecture of Presence.’ The formation of Japanese philosophical and religious thoughts will go through EXPLORATIONS culminating in two Buddhist principles; wabi (beautiful poverty) through chado, or ‘the way of tea’ and ki (life force) through aikido, or ‘the way of harmony’ that were absorbed by Zen. Additionally, an examination of selected Western philosophical thought in Phenomenology and Post Modernism that aligns with or is contrary to aesthetics of Zen will be used to further clarify the ASSOCIATIONS to these principles. Finally, an analysis of selected projects by Japanese architect Tadao Ando will further reveal how the proclivity toward aesthetic principles of Zen can illuminate CONNECTIONS for a visible architectural expression. A synthesis of this study will result in an assimilation of terms in alliance with ‘Direct Radical Intuition’ that has at its essence a ‘concrete pragmatism’ and ‘creative spontaneity’ disclosing a means of navigating through the architectural design and construction process. A comprehension of the architectural issues with transparency imbued with ‘Direct Radical intuition’ allows the designer to look within and beyond self and culturally imposed boundaries. This insight leads toward an ‘Architecture of Presence’ that is rooted in fundamental aspects of human activity and ascension toward a nourishment of the human spirit. This imminent enrichment facilitates the empowerment of IMPLICATIONS toward individual, cultural and social place in the larger context of a compassionate global integration.
Advisors/Committee Members: Postell, James.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: zen; architecture; wabi; ki; aikido; chado
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28.
Ellison, Samuel C.
Forming Ritual Reality.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2010, University of Cincinnati
► The rituals of the modern funeral procession have become diluted and disconnected…
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▼ The rituals of the modern funeral procession have become diluted and disconnected from their primary purpose. The original function of the procession was to watch over the body from the time of death to the time of committal, to console and to celebrate the life of the deceased. Funeral procession evolution has distanced the mourners from the body and the reality of death. The cremation funeral procession evolution has further distanced the mourner from the ritual by subtracting the committal from the experience. Cremation supports modern trends through its finality and purity, however an application of this complete procession has failed to emerge. This thesis aims to prioritize the relationship of the surviving participant with the reality of the ritualistic procession of cremation to memorialize the experience. The architectural response enriches and reinforces the cremation ritual significance. This is accomplished by sequencing the experiences and spaces, which provide opportunity for each to influence the other. This is done through the use of materials, light and proportion to reinforce and balance the dialogue among the social, physical and emotional qualities of the ritual. The built form aims to govern and enhance the separation of the sacred moments¬¬ from the static everyday, memorializing the experience.
Advisors/Committee Members: McInturf, Michael.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: procession; ritual; sequence; cremation; sacred; experiential
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29.
Farchaus, Kirstin S.
Relief Airport: [Re] Incorporating Sense of Place and Wonder Into Airport Terminal Design.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2012, University of Cincinnati
► Over the past four decades, airports have been reduced to uninspired, highly…
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▼ Over the past four decades, airports have been reduced to uninspired, highly sterile and locally irrelevant people processing machines, which helped create the jaded, unengaged mentality of today’s air traveler. This thesis proposes a new small satellite passenger terminal as a study of experience in architecture, and investigates how design can rekindle the thrill of airports and flying. Its Boston location will relieve Logan International Airport of the majority of its small airline services, as well as its commuter, corporate and charter flights. The design approach is based in studies of place, perception, and phenomenology; revealing the unseen facets of airports in engaging ways; and creating a positive and memorable impact on its occupants. A heightened sense of interaction with, and awareness and perception of, one’s body and environment foster the new positive experience of the passengers and the employees (as previously passive individuals) by engaging the body, its senses, and memories with the place that is the building and the site. The terminal design is specific to Boston in its character, features spaces that are at the human scale, engaging and pleasing to the senses, soothing to the nerves and that exploit the fascinating simultaneous dualities of the airport as they continuously converge: that it is both transient and static, active and dormant, of the earth and the sky, and housing arrival and departure. Through the explorations of this thesis, the airport becomes a part of the journey, a place to explore, enjoy and spend time in without stress or aggravation, and is considered a prelude or a conclusion to the adventure and wonder of flight.
Advisors/Committee Members: Hancock, John Eliot.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: Master of Architecture; Thesis; Airport; Sense of Place; Engagement
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30.
Fatkins, Paul J.
Digital Integration in the Design Process.
Degree: M. Arch., Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture, 2011, University of Cincinnati
► The realization of Architecture relies on the fundamentals of building construction, specifically…
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▼ The realization of Architecture relies on the fundamentals of building construction, specifically methods and materials. The relationship between design and production needs to change. Architects, now severed from the skill of construction, depend on builders and fabricators to carry out their designs. It is a process mediated through technology, aka the computer, which has transformed the building industry, increasing efficiency and production, while further separating us from the process of making. Using new technology in practice requires innovative techniques, in order to establish and uphold a construction-based practice. Recently the Architecture industry has adapted new software in design. The main component of this software is Non-uniform rational basis splines (NURBS), which allow geometries that are more curvilinear and irregular. What makes it a valuable tool is it provides an efficient and effective way for architects to explore new geometries, allowing for much greater freedom during the design process. However, new trouble arises from the use of this software when we attempt to translate the information for construction purposes. We need to find a way to convey hundreds or even thousands of unique details in order to have the builder construct the project. The details, now in an ephemeral state of morphological transformation are causing an information overload during the typical documentation process. Ironically, working in the digital realm creates problems, because any geometry is possible, the design solutions are infinite, which leads to inefficiencies in design, entangling it in a morass of digital information translation. Establishing a material interface and integrating all parts of the process, enables us to control information in this new digital designing era. Using a new method for design, directly engaging in digital fabrication, and providing a constant cyclical evaluation of the materials from the earliest stages of design, dissolves barriers between the architect and the builder. The new methodology provides a way to efficiently construct and manage massive amounts of unique information caused by these irregular geometries.
Advisors/Committee Members: Kanekar, Aarati.
Subjects: Architecture
Keywords: Digital; Architecture; Design; Process; Integration; Parametric
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