MARCH, Kent State University, 2009, College of Architecture and Environmental Design

With growing interest in sustainable practices in architecture, different approachesto sustainability have emerged. This thesis studies the Non modern perspective presented by Steven Moore, the challenges of redefining sustainable architecture as a storyline, and the practicability of this view in large scale sustainable projects which are largely based on Ecological Modernization. Recent developments in Ecological Modernization have brought about a vision of sustainable architecture in which social and cultural experiences are embedded. But the practices of large scale projects are still solely based on economic and financial concerns. The connection between theory and practice has significant role in the success of the sustainable storyline and therefore, the contradictions in the practice of sustainable large scale projects provide significant challenges in viewing them as Non modern practices. Although, social and cultural issues should be considered, we should not forget the role of economy and its contradictions in large scale developments. Non modern theory brings about several questions which might make sustainability practically unachievable in large scale projects, and therefore a utopian concept. While integrating social practices in architecture, we should not undermine the reality of what Ecological modernization has contributed in significant developments in different contexts.

Committee: Steve Rugare (Advisor); Jonathan Fleming (Committee Member); Diane Davis-Sikora (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture