MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2019, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, states that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care and necessary social services..." Every human being has the right to a home. Yet millions of people still struggle to find housing that is affordable and that offers the support they need to succeed. Through the analysis of failed public housing projects throughout history, a study of economically-divided cities to determine site location, and the utilization of adaptive reuse of an abandoned shopping center, this thesis aims to provide a solution for low-income neighborhoods and their communities within. Good architectural design and proper urban planning should offer opportunities, support, and livable space for those who have been continuously excluded throughout history because of their race or income level. We may not have much say in the political decisions and financing policies that determine to a large extent whether or not homes actually get built, but we can exert professional leadership by showing what can be achieved. Affordable, supportive housing can be designed well by empowering the community through the design process, understanding the history of public housing, and utilizing new environmental movements within the housing industry. This thesis will analyze the process of public housing project development in the past and offer solutions for the future of abandoned malls and affordable, supportive housing.

Committee: Michael McInturf M.Arch. (Committee Chair); Aarati Kanekar Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2019, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

The conventional method of construction has devolved into a mass produced placeless domestic commodity that refuses to acknowledge or responds to natural systems. Prefabrication as a construction method for these typologies as sought to expedite production at the cost of contextual identity and resistant design. Driven by climate change as outlined in Rising Tides Climate Refugees in the Twenty-First Century, design has been directed towards climate responsive design yet still can fall victim to extreme environmental events and are designed to be replaced following these catastrophic events rather than designed to withstand them. In Nine Chains to the Moon, Buckminster Fuller proposed the idea of Ephemeralization, or the ability of technological advancement to do more with less, for the American housing model which prefabrication can achieve from its innate potential to adapt through precise customization. This thesis seeks to analyze the progression of the prefabrication in an urban and suburban context through focuses centered on material technology, its construction, assembly and the lifestyle it promotes. A set of two buildings will be designed as a proposed next iteration in prefabrication and resilient design to environmental forces. This thesis is set up to design a system of prefabricated parts that integrate with a structural system to adapt to extreme climatic conditions of a site while retaining design intent. These prototypes aim to disrupt the inert nature of contemporary architecture to contextual forces and establish a paradigm shift of the building construction technology by amalgamation of construction methods and site responsive design.

Committee: Michael McInturf M.Arch. (Committee Chair); James Postell M.Arch. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2019, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

Homelessness is a rising problem in many high populated cities in the United States. One of the major causes of this is the stagnant minimum wage versus the increasing livable wage. Unfortunately, with many looking for a place to sleep at night many are forced to live on the streets. The number of available temporary beds has been decreasing due to high occupancy rates of emergency shelters, transitional housing, and supportive housing. Though, the few people that do receive outreach to adequate living conditions people are still prone to becoming chronically homeless because they are unable to receive the services and programs that would help them find stable housing. A possible solution to this problem would be the development of more permanent supportive housing using the “Housing First” method, which can be implemented to get homeless, disabled, or low-income families the opportunities and services that meet their individual needs. As a response for a more permanent solution, this thesis explores how to create and sustain socially responsible permanent supportive housing within the city of Seattle, WA. The city has explored this problem using existent, problematic sanctioned encampments (also known as city-permitted villages) as the locations for a temporary solution to the homeless population. Public opposition makes these sites hard to stay in one stable place. This also makes it hard for the city to approve contract extensions and overall funding. A solution can be derived from the creation of a deeper social community among the different sites of the existing sanctioned encampments. These sites need to have the ability to be easily adjusted to accommodate any certain urban condition. Using the sites of the sanctioned encampments, the city can introduce prefabricated shipping container modules as housing for the homeless. Economically, shipping containers can be a cheap solution to create a mobile community that can move throughout a certain urban context eas (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Michael McInturf M.Arch. (Committee Chair); David Varady Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2015, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

With the growing trend of the Tiny House Movement in the United States, more people are bucking the tradition of large homes and choosing to build their own smaller dwellings. As a result of these inexperienced builders, many tiny homes in existence today are too uncomfortable or unattractive to the general public, preventing the Tiny House Movement from progressing beyond its counterculture roots. Tiny houses provide a solution to a number of growing issues including sustainability, urban density, affordable housing and wastefulness, but the stigma associated with the movement results in a missed opportunity in the US. The inherent scale of tiny houses makes them a prime opportunity for prefabrication, modular design and mass production, which can greatly reduce costs and widen accessibility to a larger market. This thesis will investigate the role of prefabrication and modular design in the production of tiny houses, through the development of a modular building system. This system will then be tested at full scale in the construction of a caretaker's cottage on the Kamama Prairie in Adams County, Ohio. This research will be accomplished through investigations of prefabrication and mass customization techniques introduced by Kieran Timberlake in Refabricating Architecture, the work of architecture firms specializing in tiny house design such as Four Lights Tiny House Company, the urban tiny homes at Boneyard Studios on Washington, DC and other owner-built tiny homes. This work will also delve into integrated design, sustainable practices, “furnitecture” (furniture that creates and defines space), prefabrication, and modular construction techniques. This thesis aims to identify techniques and methods utilized by these sources and apply them to the improved production of tiny homes. Ultimately, this modular building system may be utilized to gain a wider audience of potential tiny house dwellers and better address the ecological, financial and social bene (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Michael McInturf M.Arch. (Committee Chair); Michael Zaretsky M.Arch. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2014, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

What if I told you that architects, even residential architects, don't design houses? They design homes, sure – stylish, enviable, beautiful homes. But what about houses, those durable goods with stable values and long economic lives? Why don't architect's design houses? Is there really a difference between the two – homes and houses – beyond the semantically superficial, and does it even matter? The architectural profession has had a longstanding flirtation with the notion of industrialized housing. Unfortunately, it's a flirtation that has born little fruit. Many have failed and so many others are floundering, presenting modest pre-fab boxes when the market seems to ask for gaudy neo-eclectic mash-ups. The reality is that architects are not product developers, manufacturers, marketers, or business-people in the broader sense. This is unfortunate, given the scope, value, and environmental and social impacts of the American housing industry. There were 502K houses sold in 2012. As the average price for a new house in 2012 was $292.2K, the new housing industry is annually worth about $150B, or about 1% of US GDP. In other words, the housing industry is important – so important that we are still feeling the aftershocks of the burst of the housing bubble in 2008, when new housing accounted for more than 3% of US GDP. Of the aforementioned 502K houses sold in 2012, only 47K were “owner built.” The rest, a staggering 90%, were either “built for sale” or built using contractor-backed financing. The conventional, developer-driven model dominates the housing industry, which leaves architects on the outside, looking in. Architects provide a service - an expensive service. So-called “custom” homes come at a premium that puts them beyond the reach of most of the American public. It's not that these people aren't being serviced; they are, and in a big way. There are 160,000 house building businesses in the U.S. While these entities are predominantly sm (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Michael McInturf M.Arch. (Committee Chair); Aarati Kanekar Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2014, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

The continued growth of online shopping has forced retailers to rethink strategies and brand identities. While much has happened in the way of integrating retailers into technology, the design of the spaces remains stagnant. The design and ambiance of a real space, such as a store, is one key difference of online retailing. The brand identity and core values can be better portrayed in real space than in virtual space. While retailers such as J. Crew control all of their inventory through their own highly controlled sales channels (online or in-store), not all retailers have this luxury. The successful retailer of the future will be able to change their physical store as quickly as they can alter their website.

Committee: Udo Greinacher M.Arch. (Committee Chair); Michael McInturf M.Arch. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2010, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Architecture (Master of)

There is an inherent inefficiency in a designers attempt to optimize a unique building on a unique site, too many variables exist. Throughout the 20th century, industrialization has continued its progression. Assembly line manufacturing and the mechanization of previously handcrafted products, coupled with the increased specialization of adjacent disciplines, have impacted architectural practice. Materials and construction processes have been reevaluated by theoreticians and practitioners who embraced efficiency as intrinsic to the nature of industrial production. Modernist architects such as Walter Gropius, Frank Lloyd Wright and Buckminster Fuller hypothesized utopian-like scenarios to accommodate post-war needs for mass housing units and single-family dwellings. Off-site fabrication techniques, material and weight efficiencies, and new industrial materials, such as steel and aluminum, dominated mid-century architectural discourse. Architectural products have been modularized and standardized. Off the shelf components comprise most of the built environments today. The role of the architect is largely the coordination of these products to fit their architectural agenda. By using off-site fabricated modules and components, mass customization has become more cost and time effective. Further, new technologies allow for 3 dimensional visualization of building information. Our forms of representation are increasingly less abstract, enabling the architect to gain feedback from the design before it is constructed. With this new set of tools, the question of making architecture has been transformed from that of master builder to systems coordinator. The history of the American home demonstrates these trends in architectural production. The cookie-cutter homes of Levittown can be likened to the first Model Ts, one choice, produced in mass quantity. Now, developer homes are mass customized, offering stylistic and programmatic choices to the client. Similarly, the prevalent (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Patricia Kucker MARCH (Committee Chair); Nnamdi Elleh PhD (Committee Chair) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2010, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Architecture (Master of)

The construction practice of on-site fabrication is antiquated, wasteful, and prone to inaccuracy. This body of research will take a critical look at the act of building to understand the relationship between design, construction, and efficiency. If the conventional construction process could be modified to remedy the problems that are accompanied, architects and contractors would be able to develop buildings that could perform to higher standards, cost considerably less, and quickly be assembled. Conventional construction practices involving the assembly of hundreds of thousands of pieces on location have always resulted in high costs, long durations, and limited flexibility. This system has become the standard method of assembly in the contemporary practice, leaving architects with little control over the execution of their work. Industrialized methods utilizing mass production have developed systems that provide incredible precision at low costs for consumers. Given the amount of architectural planning and information exchange that takes place electronically, there is little reason why so many of the conventional building problems continue to plague this industry. Perhaps the time has come to re-examine the role of the architect and his/her relationship with construction. Understanding and expanding upon our building process could result in lower costs for consumers while improving quality, performance, and the efficiency of construction.

Committee: Michael McInturf MARCH (Committee Chair); Aarati Kanekar PhD (Committee Chair) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2009, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Architecture (Master of)

Our expectations for a building's usefulness have become less permanent. As user needs change rapidly, buildings often outlive their intended use. Buildings that are purpose-built are difficult to adapt and costly to renovate; conventional construction methods yield results that are too permanent. Demolition and new construction is costly, time consuming, and detrimental to the environment. Off-site fabrication provides greater efficiency by cutting waste and on-site construction time.Buildings - like the neighborhoods they occupy - are not static and need adjustment to remain attractive, safe and useful. Buildings must be planned and constructed differently to adapt for changing functions, standards of use and modification. The aim of this research is to offer potential solutions and demonstrate the benefits of integrating off-site fabrication with adaptable design strategies. The project is a high-rise building in an urban context that tests the integration of these two methods.

Committee: Elizabeth Riorden (Committee Chair); Gerald Larson (Committee Chair) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2009, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Architecture

“Give a man a safe home and you have housed his family – but train him how to build his own safe house and you have housed his family, and very probably his children's families, and his relatives and friends.” - Ian DavisNatural disasters of any magnitude present an opportunity for adaptability and change. This thesis proposal will examine a disaster relief strategy that appropriates abandoned big boxes to provide immediate temporary, short term, and long term shelter. This thesis will focus on a hypothetical worst-case natural disaster scenario, to permit the proposed design to be easily scalable to handle disasters of any magnitude and apply to various global applications. The methodology includes a time frame of escorting the affected individuals through four disaster relief stages: removal, relocation, reconstruction and recovery. Cincinnati, Ohio, was chosen as the prototype for the disaster relief site due to the accessibility of abandoned big boxes, the lack of a permanent housing disaster plan, and the history of repeated flood damage resulting in numerous homeless individuals. Abandoned big boxes will be appropriated so that individuals will obtain immediate shelter where their basic needs will be met, so that the process of reconstruction and recovery can begin. Temporary and short-term residents will be housed until they can either return to their original dwelling or it has been appropriately repaired. Through the customization of prefabricated pods, aluminum framing systems, and structural insulated panels, long-term residents will participate in transforming the existing infrastructure of an abandoned big box into a personalized home that will evolve into a collective community.

Committee: Rebecca Williamson (Committee Chair); Tom Bible (Committee Chair) Subjects: Architecture

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2008, Engineering : Civil Engineering

One of the ongoing challenges in the quest to make the built environment more sustainable is to identify and mitigate environmental impacts in all phases of buildings, from design phase, to construction, to Building Use/Maintenance and finally end of life phases. In this study a comparison of life cycle environmental burdens of constructing Composite Metal Deck and Hollow Core floor systems for commercial buildings by using a Hybrid Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach is carried out. The study covers material extraction (cradle-to-gate) and construction (gate-to-gate) phases and includes a detailed assessment of both direct and supply chain impacts. A comprehensive set of results is obtained from the study. These results are presented in several categories for comparative assessment - energy use, Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), PM10 and VOC emissions. Other categories include solid waste and liquid emissions. The overall conclusion from this study can be summarized as follows:(1)Total environmental burdens from Composite Metal Deck floor are higher than Hollow Core floor for all emissions considered. The environmental burdens from Composite Metal Deck floor range from 8% higher for SO2 to 32% higher for HC; (2) Hollow Core floor impacts in the Construction phase are higher compared to Composite Metal Deck floor; (3) Composite Metal Deck floor impacts are higher than Hollow Core floor in the Material extraction and Production phase.

Committee: Cynthia Tsao PhD (Committee Chair); Jeffrey Molavi PhD (Committee Member); Mingming Lu PhD (Committee Member); Margaret Kupferle PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Engineering

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2008, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Architecture (Master of)

Rising criminal populations and small budgets plague justice departments in many cities across the Country. Current crime rates and recidivism trends demand more cell and housing space as well as better rehabilitation programs. Communities such as Cincinnati are hesitant to fund such facilities.This thesis proposes using prefabrication and adaptable building techniques, coupled with a new community-responsible correction program, which will reduce the rate of recidivism. The program combines community activities with secure incarceration facilities so that youth offenders have the opportunity to be integrated back into the community. As the need for secure facilities decrease, adaptable construction techniques will allow the maximum use of the facility as well as allow the community to expand into what had been correctional spaces.

Committee: George Thomas Bible (Committee Chair); Michael McInturf (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2008, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Architecture (Master of)

Building architecture has become wasteful both in its process and product due to expectations, techniques, and requirements associated with designing and constructing architecture in modern times. This current process of architecture limits innovation and promotes ineffectiveness by segregating responsibilities while conforming to conventions. The problem calls for rethinking the approach to building where accountability moves to the forefront when assessing the project team as well as the design and construction strategies. The many components of architecture that combine to make up the whole need to be analyzed to determine their value and suitability for the intended use. The development of a lean architectural method will enhance the value of the final product by implementing control into the process that will yield improvements in the areas of cost, time, quality, and aesthetic value. Demonstration that the elements of architecture should be questioned individually in the areas of quality, craft, budget, schedule, and value in order to create modern enclosures that are effective, adaptable, and efficient compared to the traditional way of thinking about building.

Committee: Michael McInturf (Committee Chair); Vincent Sansalone (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Architecture