MA, University of Cincinnati, 2013, Arts and Sciences: Communication

Ruin photography, widely called "ruin porn" by critics, is an artistic trend that has entered the conscience of artists and consumers alike. Andrew Moore's Detroit Disassembled is one such exhibit that has received criticism despite its wide appeal to consumers. This essay attempts to explore the complex relationship between photograph and subject in the case of urban architectural artifacts. I will explore the intersection of documentary and art photography at which Moore's photographs are located, suggesting his work serves as a generic hybrid. Through this project, I will attempt to unpack the visual and rhetorical elements present in Moore's Detroit Disassembled. This project also seeks to analyze public reaction to Detroit Disassembled and to answer the question–what voices do these photographs privilege, and whose, if any, are ignored? This essay suggests that Detroit Disassembled, and further, Moore's use of a generic hybrid of art and documentary photography, has opened the door for artistic demonstrations that serve to further the conversation about Detroit's decline and the city's future.

Committee: Stephen Depoe Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Teresa Sabourin Ph.D. (Committee Member); Shaunak Sastry Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2011, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

There is a specific aesthetic that exists amongst architecture in the absence of routine human interaction; it is the aesthetic of decay. This aesthetic develops over time, as buildings cease to function in the way they were originally designed to do so. As this happens, such buildings become leftover, forgotten spaces that go unseen by the bulk of society; they are left to minor, often illicit alternate uses. This makes the task of explaining the aesthetic rather difficult, and extra attention must be paid to the methodology that best accomplishes that task: photography. Photographs tell the tale of what these spaces are, in the clearest and most straightforward way. An exploration through photography coupled with a secondary level of exploration into how the space came to be, is capable of informing a reactionary exploration into what the space can become. The goal of such an exploration is to not only understand this, but also to exploit the individual elements of it in order to inform an architectural approach. The aesthetic of decay has developed over time, and alternative uses should do the same; minor issues have drastically affected the decay of the building, and minor interventions will likewise affect the function of the space.

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

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2013, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

The feeling of smallness is a disconcerting experience. When one faces the vastness of nature or contemplates the endless progression of time, their sheer incomprehensibility intimidates. But there is also pleasure from such encounters, liberation from conceding to one;s limitations. Since antiquity, a term has been used to signify the origin of these paradoxical experiences: the sublime. In a site in Cincinnati, a place that embodies the vastness and privations characteristic of the sublime, an architectural investigation was carried forth. The site, once part of a productive industrial corridor, has decayed into ruins following the retreat of industry and the subsequent closure of rail lines. Ruination, in its physical manifestation of temporality, constitutes a sublime concept. Everything turns to dust. In the post-industrial city, abandoned sites such as this are prevalent, but societally ambiguous. They are marginalized for their lack of defined purpose, islands of void in the urban fabric. The fate of industrial ruins is typically demolition, particularly if the original buildings' purpose was to accommodate specific processes. As a result, the latent potential of these places to convey the sublime is experienced by few, by urban explorers, by squatters. In order to reincorporate society, these places must be foregrounded. How does one engage the sublimity inherent to a specific post-industrial ruin, while reintegrating the place with contemporary society? Through analysis, the sublime elements of the site will be identified and dictate the intervention. The context will inform the program and define its place within society. The site is relatively isolated from the city and yet this detachment provides a setting for contemplation. By implementing various concepts, including site specificity, the terrain vague, and the picturesque, the inherent sublimity of the site will be amplified, and the previously overlooked will be illuminated.

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