Mumbai is a city of complexities. These often compete with one another— large-scale infrastructure against coastal forests, indigenous and informal settlers against urban policies, local focus against one which is global, money against equity, dynamic against static. Learning from the past, we must not approach them with an intent of controlled master-planning, but instead gradual, decentralized, localized growth of resilient systems. I believe that this could address issues of accommodation and integration of the urban-rural, as well as the coastal ecologies into the systems of the city. I chose to keenly focus on a local scope of the networks of community and livelihood that the Kolis have developed on land and coastal waters which serves as a crucial point of negotiation with the larger context of the formalized city. This lent itself to a more detailed and robust production of work. The goal of this is to tap into the localized knowledge, the community itself and the aforementioned networks to facilitate a system of lo-tech dynamic mapping of the marginalized urban edges which include informal settlements and the mangroves. The mapping technique that emerges is speculative to a certain degree while displaying a very personal representation of the Versova Koliwada and the Malad Creek at various scales. The maps expressly focus on the interconnectivity of the natural and the built brought through their adjacency, therein making a statement on the linked plight of the two. Making this visible in a way which it hasn’t before through techniques so approachable has the potential to open opportunities for marginalized communities and activist groups to have conversations with governing organizations rooted in spatial, empirical data, while simultaneously anchoring these communities in place through a revitalization of indigeneity for the contemporary and future city.

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This thesis examines the social qualities of informal tea places in Khartoum, Sudan, and intends to situate them within Oldenburg’s third place theory. Informal tea places are studied as a spatial phenomenon that illustrates the social, political, economic, and environmental effects of rapid population increase in Khartoum due to forced displacement. Public third places serve as a venue for strengthening and broadening social networks and improving social cohesion. Social networks based on ethnicity, friendship, and kinship are linked to progressing informality. The bridging and bonding social capital that arises from strengthened and broadened social relations can be harnessed and applied through participatory development approaches to aid slum-upgrading initiatives in Khartoum. Asset-based community development is explored as a participatory development approach that requires high bonding and bridging capital to address issues at Mayo, an internally displaced people camp in Khartoum. The social bridging qualities of informal tea places are explored in various locations in Iowa to understand how these places can bring people together. This experiment resulted in facilitation, engagement, and learning spatial ethnographic methods to document the effects of informal tea places in Iowa.

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The growth of the railroad industry in the United States began on the east coast in 1803 and quickly spread westward, culminating in its ultimate link with the west coast via the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. Monumental train terminals—a new building type at the time—were constructed at key points of articulation along the way. The industry reached its peak in the early twentieth century but suffered a decline as the automobile and airline industries became preferable modes of transportation. As a new and growing nation in the mid-nineteenth century, the United States chose to utilize the Beaux-Arts architectural style—known for its historical references, grandeur, and monumental scale—as the appropriate style to convey the celebrated nature of its public buildings, including train terminals. The Beaux-Arts style, whose popularity was advanced by the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, was aided by the prosperity and innovation brought forth by the industrial revolution and the planning concepts of the City Beautiful Movement. History shows that monumental train terminals followed a cyclical pattern of use consisting of a height of use or heyday, followed by a period of decline, and culminating in a resurgence or renaissance due to restoration and adaptive reuse. This study aims to answer the question of how the legacy of two monumental train terminals have impacted preservation and cultural heritage practices from their origins at the beginning of the twentieth century to the present. Additionally, it sought to understand what the legacy of public transportation buildings is in general to the American public. Train terminals are monumental works of art that facilitated the growth of the United States through the railroad. Their role in this capacity, as structures of such significance, merits their preservation and rehabilitation for posterity. To find the answers to these questions the author conducted a comprehensive comparative analysis of both Washington Union Station and Kansas City Union Station through which he examined the history and restoration approaches for both train terminals by their ownership groups. Kansas City Union Station and Washington Union Station both followed this cyclical pattern of the height of use, decline, and resurgence. By understanding their respective history from inception to their restoration and adaptive reuse, we can understand the fundamental models that result in the train terminals’ continued viability. The results of the comparative analysis highlighted the significant relationship between the community, historic preservation, and the positive impact that these two exemplary terminals have had on preservation and cultural heritage practices. The results also showed that social and cultural values manifest themselves in a shared sense of meaning associated with memories brought about by the restoration of these historically significant structures. The highly public nature of their successful restorations allows them to serve as good ambassadors of historic preservation and cultural heritage. The efforts of many in the restoration of these two terminals were proved worthwhile. The sustained viability of historic train terminals such as Washington Union Station and Kansas City Union Station, informs people of their own diverse history and culture and what the future may hold through their revitalized presence. The general well-being of Kansas City Union Station and Washington Union Station is evidenced by planned future expansions, and the health of preservation and adaptive reuse as a whole is reinforced by the current extensive restoration of a third monumental train terminal, Michigan Central Station (see Chapter 6), within its surrounding neighborhoods. The conservation of historic buildings, as evidenced by the train terminal archetype presented here, fosters a remembrance of what shaped our culture and society and what the future holds. Their preservation ensures that future generations are afforded the same.

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Life is another form of death. Together, they form an eternal cycle but for a majority of the past century, life and death have been seen as opposites and many have chosen to ignore the topic of death. In our unwillingness to address the topic, the Western burial practice that emerged out of the late 19th and early 20th centuries remained unquestioned for decades. It was not until recent years, with closer examination, Westerners began to realise some of these practices are environmentally unfavourable. For this and other reasons, many people have begun searching for alternative burial methods. This paper serves is a search for an alternative burial method. This research is centred on the Ouroboros, the eternal cycle of life and death and humans place within that cycle.

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Cellulose is a versatile material with numerous contemporary applications in textiles, food, and biomaterials. Contemporary research is focused on modifying the structural and thermal properties of cellulose to create novel composites with cellulose nano-crystals, lignocellulosic pulp, and foamed cellulose to name a few. Significant advances have been made in improving the properties of cellulose. Adding aligned cellulose nano-fibers to concrete to improve its mechanical properties or combining with polymers for better durability can lead to new applications specifically in design and construction. These new forms of cellulose through optimization and combination with other materials provide opportunities for reducing material usage, as the life-cycle cost involved in the transformation of traditional materials such as brick, concrete, and steel in construction is significant. Therefore, this thesis reviewed cellulose research pertinent to the field of building construction and explored three cellulose based applications at two different scales. The three investigations explored utilizing cellulose, in two forms, as an alternative to non-renewable materials that constitute the standardized wall assembly. Focusing on a widely available, renewable, and bio-degradable material such as cellulose would provide an alternative to the energy intensive materials that make up the standardized wall assembly. Therefore, the primary goals were: 1. Reducing the percentage of non-renewable materials utilized in the contemporary wall assembly. 2. Utilizing a widely available, biodegradable, and renewable material like cellulose as an alternative to traditional building materials. 3. Transforming cellulose, manifesting as various fibers, into a structural or thermal component based on location, availability, and programmatic requirements. For the first study, the mobile diagnostics lab was utilized to generate Data from custom concrete panels inserted into the removable wall assembly creating a baseline to compare future cellulose concrete panels. The fiber composite study primarily optimized fiber proportion for effective mechanical properties. Therefore, additional work needs to be carried out into fiber and mix proportion optimization to create a thermally efficient composite panel. For the second investigation, cellulose based thin shell structures were cast as a framework for future applications utilizing cellulose available in various forms around the world (Table 5 1). The shells were envisioned as enclosures for community gathering spaces in rural regions. Additionally, they could serve as a blueprint for crafting spaces in regions facing humanitarian crises and shortage of traditional building materials such as lumber, glass, steel, and brick. The third study investigated the interfacial bond between the fiber and cement matrix in concrete by coating the fiber surface in polyester resin and shellac prior to dispersion in the composite mix. The coated sisal fiber embedded composites exhibited improved toughness, ductility, and flexural capacity, compared with unreinforced ECC composites.

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This research examines the acoustic comforts of different occupational building types and investigates the combination of building elements, especially focusing on building layout and materials that are considered significant sources of unwanted sound. A major part of the thesis relies on a series of sound pressure (decibel) measurements in three distinctive occupational types: residential, educational, and theater buildings on the Iowa State University campus, and evaluates them with the current standard of allowable sound levels. In addition, this thesis analyzes the existing spatial and material strategies of the three types. The selected materials and their acoustic qualities will be investigated and compared with USG Building Acoustic Assemblies. The results reveal poor acoustic qualities and unconcerned acoustic designs of the investigated buildings. Most of the surveyed designs do not meet either the American National Standards (ANSI) and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).

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Today, buildings consume a significant amount of primary energy, and consequently they are a major source for greenhouse gas emissions resulting in global warming. During the last decades, the concept of sustainable architecture with the major aim of diminishing negative environmental impact of the building has brought significant demands and changes to the profession of architecture. In this way, decreasing the dependency of buildings on fossil fuels and their high rate of energy consumption in underdeveloped countries like Iran is receiving more attention by architects and governments. Iran is a country with a powerful history in using vernacular solutions to maintain an acceptable indoor environment, such as harnessing natural ventilation, using local and high thermal mass materials, optimizing building orientation. Despite this successful history, temporary Iranian architecture suffers from high consumption and inefficient building construction. The research presented in this thesis is initially concerned with investigating the traditional and vernacular features of Iranian architecture found in a hot–dry region. These features were considered in two shapes; energy efficiency features and social-cultural features. Moreover, the concept of Net Zero Energy Building with the significant aim of constructing sustainable has been assessed. As the result, by presenting a comprehensive study for features of Iranian vernacular architecture and Net ZEB concept, they have been combined to locate a high energy-efficient building in the city of Yazd with a hot and arid climate at the central area of Iran. Lessons derived from vernacular architecture caused considerable improvement in energy consumption of the proposed building, especially in heating, cooling, and lighting demands.

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Work homes have been used by the people since ancient times but, today people are preferring more to use work-home ideology because of technological advantages, time saving, budget savings etc. Advancements in communications have created new ideologies like work from home etc. I believe work-homes are a broader concept than what’s currently existing. Many architects have researched on integrated spaces and defined the typologies of them. That existing research was about the immobile integrated spaces, but very limited research has been done on the design elements that influence the space in these buildings and no proper research is done on mobile work homes. I have seen many people travelling hours every day to reach their work destination and then spend couple more hours to travel back. Through my research I am trying to use the advancements in technologies and work home principles, to create a set of design elements for these typologies, so the person can use that time efficiently without any distractions, providing emotional satisfaction with a space, getting the ‘job’ done quickly and efficiently in the space.

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The green and sustainable campus concept is not something new to US universities, but well-organized and coherent activities to effectively “green” campuses are not that common, and efforts are minor in comparison to the potential of these universities. This thesis investigates different approaches taken by higher education (HE) institutions that are considered successful in their objectives toward achieving a sustainable campus. It also examines the process of integration of sustainability into the higher education institution’s policy, pedagogy, and research process; approaches taken by HE institutions aim to impact students’ perceptions and their behavior toward the world that they will live with for the rest of their lives and those of their children. This thesis reviews different frameworks for sustainable higher education campuses by examining a set of major national and international declarations related to environmental sustainability in HE campuses. It investigates those declarations and learns from the initiatives taken by selected HE campuses through case studies; it also examines different issues related to the selection of goals and approaches to actually affect the advancement of sustainable HE campuses. This research also argues that an HE campus requires a willingness to adopt a diverse approach of physical modifications to buildings and infrastructure, as well as educational modification to achieve sustainability goals. Finally, some concrete initiatives are outlined as recommendations which may be undertaken by HE institutions in order to achieve their sustainability goals

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Within any urban setting, the public space has always reflected the city’s social, economic, cultural, and environmental well-being. In the broader discussion of urban environmental sustainability, however, there has been a pronounced dualism and an implicit hierarchy of value when looking at the city-ecology paradigm. This corresponds to the political-social, human- nature and especially subject-object divides within the perspectives on the sustainability of urban public spaces. I associate this divide and the subsequent domination of pedagogies that lack feminist approaches in analyzing qualitative aspects like experience, well-being, and equity. Do public spaces belong to women and nature? Do women belong to public spaces? If they really do, can it change the nature of the public space? This dissertation thus adopts a critical eco-feminist perspective, to expand its concepts in relation to urban public spaces to build a holistic definition of urban environmental sustainability. I seek a philosophical inquiry into the ethics of care to shape my argument on the spatial nature of the public space. The methodology adopted uses contemporary feminist philosophy and environmental ethics to critically investigate various aspects that determine the relationship of women and the urban public space. In this philosophical dissertation, firstly, I investigate the public spaces through the spatiotemporal and gendered lens by considering scholarly literature on the nature of the urban public space. Secondly, I draw theoretical threads from most importantly, Luce Irigaray’s perspectives on an ethic of sexuate difference and feminine subjectivity to investigate the feminine aspects of the use of public space. Finally, I develop the concept of the ethic of care, differently, for better addressing the issue of gender equity, environmental sustainability to impact women’s political, emotional and relational well-being within the public space. In conclusion, this dissertation advocates ‘care’ as a central value, to shape the spatial nature of the urban public space and an approach to achieve socio-ecological sustainability and well-being in urban public spaces.

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The topic of this thesis is to outline the production of a mobile research and diagnostics lab (MDL) designed and constructed by Iowa State University student researchers with faculty guidance as an experiment in the development of research infrastructure. The development of the MDL was divided into five phases and took place over the course of twenty-five months. Concept, Research, Design, Construction Documents, and Construction were utilized in the creation of the MDL with each phase dealing with different aspects of the projects final form. This process is documented within this thesis by the lead designer, researcher, and construction manager of the project. By documenting and understanding how the projects multiple phases occurred, innovative solutions to new prototypes for materials and wall assemblies can be produced and further research infrastructure can be developed. The lab’s potential impacts on building sciences are discussed as they relate to university research infrastructure, attained research capacities, and interdisciplinary research opportunities. The MDL is a mobile facility which creates opportunities for research to occur through the assembly of systems and technologies which aid in research. Enabling experimentation with environmental qualities, conditions and assemblies this experimental space can be utilized to develop solutions to building envelope design that respond to the approaching energy crisis brought on in part by traditional building methods. Providing an opportunity for cooperative research in building science provokes engagement of actors from disparate fields with issues of energy utilization in the built environment. By exposing multiple disciplines to issues of energy utilization in the built environments new approaches to old problems can be formed. Understanding how issues of energy utilization impact the building design process can lead to a reduction of unnecessary energy expenditures as well as environmental degradation. Disrupting existing patterns of design and construction in the form of new methods and thought processes requires a way of invoking change. A means of testing and measuring design solutions to energy issues requires a platform capable of both hosting experiments and relaying data for analysis. The goal of this thesis to support future development of building science research infrastructure through the documentation and analysis of the production of this Iowa State University mobile research lab called Mobile Diagnostic Lab (MDL) and communicate the lessons learned. Analyzing the development of an interdisciplinary research platform known as the MDL, its potential impacts on the built environments are explored and discussed.

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New technologies of power are taking control of body and life. Historically, refugee camps were produced as a result of the sociopolitical effects of new technologies of power. In some instances, refugee camps have been conceptualized as “total institutions” where bodies are disciplined and where control is an integral and defining component of the structure of the institution and its daily routine. In many ways, the space of Palestinian camps in Lebanon has signified a mechanism of control for multiple political powers. These camps have had fixed boundaries since their establishment. The configuration of the boundary reflects the power of Lebanese state over the camp residents and its means of surveillance and control over the spaces of the camps. The refugees are expected to remain within their boundary where Lebanese army checkpoints can control what goes into the camp. It is an environment under continuous potential siege. Manifestation of living under potential siege is displayed differently among the three camps that I chose to discuss in this thesis; namely Shatila, Nahr Al-Bared and ‘Ain al-Hilweh. These three camps show different conditions of integration with the spaces outside their respective boundaries. The spatial characteristics of these boundaries defined different degrees of spatial assimilation of the camps within the surrounding space the Lebanese state. Navigating through Giorgio Agamben’s “state of exception” and Michel Agier’s “extraterritoriality” as theoretical frameworks of the space of the camp, this thesis maps the political agency of Palestinians in relationship to the process of urbanization of camp border in order to assert the spatial exclusivity of these two frameworks within the conditions of the Palestinian refugee in Lebanon.

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This thesis examines how to turn space into place. In the digital age, place is more important than ever before. Around the world communities are dealing with the issue of placelessness. The food system has become standardized and suburbia has become a monotonous repetition in cities across the country. As people search for a sense of place in their communities, creation of place can be a tool for exploring these issues. Through experience, individuals can begin to understand and become aware of the place they call home. This thesis discusses three methods for the comprehension of place. They are narrative writing, deep mapping, and photography. These methods provide a catalyst to investigate how a person’s personal experiences, the history of a place, and visual representations of a place can help create a sense of place that can carry into the future.

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Suburbia and the American Dream have long, complex history in the United States. As the visual manifestation of the American Dream since the mid-twenty first century, suburbia has been criticized for being placeless, unhealthy, discriminatory, and wasteful. Alternative development methods have been created to combat the growth of suburban sprawl to create “places worth caring about” (Kunstler, 2007). This research study, through the methodology of oral history, uses in-depth interviews and morphological study to continue the narrative of suburbia and the American Dream as it exists in two alternative developments in Central Iowa: Prairie Trail in Ankeny and Glynn Village in Waukee. Through the research process, the role of these development types within the narrative became clearer: Morphology can create a sense of community and belonging; perceptions are shifting away from false conventional wisdom of the past; nostalgia plays a role in decision-making for the future; and there has been a generational shift from an American Dream that prioritized financial security to an American Dream of the pursuit of happiness.

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Historic preservation is old enough to have a history: it is hardly a new phenomenon today. However, the preservation of historic interiors, which forms a significant component of historic preservation, is becoming a complicated aspect and receives much less emphasis in the academic literature. Given the situation that historic interiors are widely mistreated and less studied and considering the popularity of adaptive reuse in the United States, this paper will investigate how the procedures and outcomes of the preservation of historic interiors are impacted by different factors, especially the opportunities and constraints imposed by financial incentives. This paper first focuses on the theory and practice of historic preservation in the United States and then looks into three adaptive reuse case studies in Iowa. Compared to the often-idealized recommendations made in regulations and official preservation guidelines, this research provides more practical recommendations by looking at the compromises inherent in preservation projects and the sacrifices made by different actors in order to make historic interior spaces usable for today’s needs. The findings reveal financial incentives’ positive influences on decision-making process, overall project quality, and interior treatments, the limitations and freedoms provided by regulatory processes and the interiors evaluation. Recommendations suggest a more flexible tax credits system should be adopted by providing a more flexible approach, a sliding scale to guide the rehabilitation process, which also takes into account the conflicts over aesthetics, energy-saving potential, and safety issues.

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Archetype in Greek means an original model that prevails in all later forms of variations, combinations, and transformations. In the field of design, types and archetypes have been used as an analytical tool; unfortunately, archetypes have not been perceived as promising prospects in the search for creative ideas, and the dynamic transformative quality embedded in archetypes has not been fully utilized among students and designers. Despite its inherent potential as sources of ideas for future invention, a number of scholars have criticized the typological approach to design for its exclusive nature primarily due to a misunderstanding of its fundamental structure. This dissertation aims at clarifying this misconception and explores a method that involves taking advantage of the malleable structure of archetypes. In Part 1 of this dissertation, I redefine the malleable structure of archetypes as a dual structure in which two contrasting yet equally crucial elements coexist: a core signal and a set of peripherals. The study focuses on verification of this dual structure and identification of core signals and peripherals in the six selected museum interior archetypes as a test set. In Part 2 I explore the archetype’s transformative quality using the interactive genetic algorithm (IGA). The dual structure of museum interior archetypes defined in Part 1 was mapped into the genetic algorithms to design an archetype-based generative abstraction system integrated with the Unity game engine, named IGATY-beta. The focus was to develop a system that would serve as an interactive ideation partner, not as a single-solution-oriented optimization tool. In Part 3 a quasi-experiment was conducted to examine the proposed IGATY-beta system’s educational potential in enhancing creativity in the ideation process. Three teaching scenarios based on three instructional materials were compared: (a) manual sketch-based archetypes exercise; (b) archetypes exercise using the IGATY-beta system displayed on a computer screen; and (c) archetypes exercise using the IGATY-beta system with an opportunity of viewing design in a virtual environment via a HMD. The results suggest the proposed archetype-based generative abstraction system’s positive educational potentials in enhancing creativity in the ideation process. Finally, the implications of the proposed generative abstraction system in the field of design are discussed

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Post World War II, technological and political factors prioritized economic efficiency in food production, distribution and access. Although this currently delivers benefits such as the doubling of caloric production and food availability despite geographic constraints, the food system is becoming implicated both directly and indirectly with a host of environmental and social issues. This thesis re-frames food system issues as “wicked problems” (Buchanan, 1992, 15) and develops a framework of design tactics . The framework is used as a matrix for analyzing past and current theory and practice based design approaches that engage the food system and two university food systems. The analysis reveals the practical potential in design tactics for creating incremental shifts towards holistic food systems that are economically viable and have environmental and social components, thereby addressing contemporary food system issues.

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Architecture cannot float while confined in the Earth’s atmosphere. It exists in a physical reality that humans interact with, experience, and inhabit. Architecture is what helps us define place, and it can be influenced by place in return. An understanding of place — in all its aspects — is necessary to understand architecture. In this thesis I will examine how we define “place” and how we can create and represent it. The final goal is to explore the possibility of Place through architectural means and provoke discussion about the current relationship between architecture and Place. I have separated my research into seven categories under three headings, each of which focus on a particular aspect of the relationship between place and architecture. The first group of categories falls under simply (A) Place. The sections are: (1) Architecture and Place, which defines `place’ as well as puts forward the initial assumptions on the importance of place to architecture; (2) Space and Cognition, which draws from previous research on how spatial perception affects the use of architectural space and the psychological effects of a particular place. This section also discusses the ability of Architecture to define Place. Heading (B) Place Creation starts with (3) Defining Place, an in-depth analysis of St. Ivo’s in Rome, Italy, from five different perspectives — Historical, Experiential, Formal, Activist, and Symbolic — with the goal of determining how Place might define Architecture in contrast to the previous section; (4) Atmosphere, Light and the Senses, discusses how perception through the five senses currently is applied to architectural theory as well as comparisons of multiple distinctive approaches to architecture and the surrounding environment. Finally, (5) “Fake” Place, is a literary analysis of Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities and the discussion of creating place without a physical reality. The final heading discusses the implication of (C) Place Representation, through the section (6) Writing, which continues this discussion with a focus on how architecture and place are created and represented through media by non-architects and for non-architectural purposes; and (7) Images, analysis the methods of representation most commonly used by architects. Both sections will contain a brief look at the history of different media in architecture and their build-up into practices that are used today. How is Place currently represented in architecture? And should this be changed?

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Architectural practice possesses potential to advance social justice. Social architecture is a movement within the profession currently employing inclusive, participatory and proactive modes of practice. Each of these modes of architectural practice was investigated alongside frameworks from sociology regarding social justice, including spatial justice, empathetic empowerment and equity. In order to synthesize these two bodies of literature, an investigation was conducted at Iowa State University in April 2013 in the form of an art exhibition. This project employed the three primary modes of the social architecture movement while exploring the meaning and social impact of “equitable shelter” through two surveys. The phrase “equitable shelter” was derived in an attempt to establish a potential output of architectural practice that could be used to evaluate whether or not architects in the emergent social architecture movement were indeed advancing social justice. The output that emerged from the surveys concluded that “equitable shelter is an environment that ensures the safety of inhabitants and protection from the elements, acting as a gateway to the satisfaction of basic needs, self-actualization, self-expression and self-direction.” This output was determined to be both a product and a system that facilitates social justice because it aligns with respected theories on the nature of social justice. The design of the exhibition employed the inclusive, participatory and proactive modes of practice espoused by the social architecture movement. The output of the exhibition, “equitable shelter,” was shown to relate to the social justice frameworks of spatial justice, empathetic empowerment and equity. These relationships demonstrated that each mode of practice helps create equitable shelter and therefore social justice. The social architecture movement has expanded the profession to fulfill its potential by advancing social justice.

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A degree of success in architecture can be attributed to its ability to meet the needs of users. Traditionally, user and market demands are determined through a process of past experience. Both individual users and encompassing demographics are questioned in order to determine current needs and usages. Through this information, architects program and develop the building to meet current needs, and typically establish permanent and fixed solutions without much adaptability. This inability for architectural adaptation becomes a potential issue when user demands and usage practices shift or change, leaving the building design impractical for users or completely obsolete. At this point, building owners have two choices to meet changing user demands, costly remodeling or demolition/rebuild. Countries such as the Netherlands have had an influx in building demolition as post World War II (WWII) building plans, often small and compartmentalized, were no longer desirable for usage. As a result, designers have been developing adaptable architectural structures and spatial infill to allow for future change in order to decrease waste and continue to meet user demands. Beyond waste prevention and staying abreast to shifting user demands and usages, an adaptable approach to architecture can directly promote user control over their given space and promote user satisfaction. In order to provide user satisfaction within a design, a designer must allow for adaptability by the user, studies show the more adaptable an environment is, the more the user will be satisfied. This thesis outlines the arguments for adaptable design, benefits that are provided, aspects designers must consider, a potential adaptable design system, and the applications of these adaptable designs in an architectural space and market.

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Sustainable building design has gained rapid interest to achieve lesser environmental impacts through man-made structures. Guidelines have been set up by the leading developed nations to balance the environment and human needs with sustainable building design guidelines. This is even more necessary for under developed nations like Nepal, with its burgeoning capital city, Kathmandu. In this thesis, the environmental issues in Kathmandu ranging from water, energy, waste management to land management have been studied widely and especially relating to the residential buildings. After the analysis of facts and hard issues faced by the people of Kathmandu and a study of climatic conditions in the city, residential sustainable design guidelines have been proposed. Finally, the design recommendations have been developed in this thesis and applied to multilevel multi-family sustainable residential building in a site in Kathmandu.

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This thesis examines the intimate relationship between a woman and her architecture, focusing on the importance of the patron’s identity to an existing building: in particular, Peggy Guggenheim and the museum she created for her personal art collection, the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in Venice. It will engage her narrative from three voices; (1) her own, through archival research of her publicized and private life, (2) personal, through an experiential investigation of her identity in the form of dresses made and worn by the author, and (3) the palazzo, through a spatial study of the architecture. The objective is to establish her place within the myriad of creative speculations that go into the conception of architecture (i.e. concerning site, cultural context, urban situation, etc.) as a potential speculative subject. It argues that in understanding an extant work of architecture through equally creative analysis of material fact, the patron must be included.

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This thesis develops a situated sustainability strategy for Wudalianchi, China, which has been nominated as World Heritage natural site. After reviewing related research on World Heritage; tourism and urban planning; social space, sense of place, and social sustainability; and sustainable design in the built environment, this thesis establishes a method for analyzing sustainability that features both standard and situated criteria, based on the unique aspects of the physical and built environments, as well as those of the social environment, involving spatial practice and sense of place. Using these criteria, this thesis then analyzes plans for the transformation of Wudalianchi as a host city for a World Heritage natural site and articulates where the plans might need to be further situated to achieve environmental and social sustainability. The thesis concludes with a sustainable strategy for Wudalianchi.

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This thesis is about the ecological and cultural sustainability of a proposed design for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal College (CATC) in Weatherford, Oklahoma. The culture of the tribes combined with sustainable building systems are used as a basis for decision-making regarding the method of design. Upon the completion of the design process, the proposed materials and systems selected were analyzed based on their embodied energy and contribution to the facility’s ability to operate off-the-grid. In choosing concrete, steel, glass and bamboo, which contribute to proper functioning of the systems, the academic building will be able to operate completely free of fossil fuels – a savings of over 4.5 trillion BTUs of energy or the equivalent of 785,000 barrels of oil over its lifetime. The contribution of both the campus itself and the students who graduate from CATC will assist the Tribe with future economic development and security.

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Zoning and designing for affordability using modular housing examines the differences between the two types of factory built housing, manufactured and modular. The purpose of the study is to explore why more high quality modular housing isn’t being built and how one can build affordable and well designed modular housing in more communities. The text covers multiple topics, including the history, perception, technological advances and financing of factory built housing, from the viewpoint of architects, developers, planners and home buyers. Case study methodology was used to examine how four communities treat modular housing, individually and collectively. One of the communities was purposely selected because it has a unique residential development that used modular construction for roughly one third of the homes. The results show that factory built housing has a relatively small market share and that educating home buyers, as well as professionals, on its benefits are crucial to changing that.

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Using Lefebvre’s theory of space, this study describes the interaction between landscape transformations and the increasing financial investments from agriculture industries in Mercedes, Uruguay. I gathered secondary data and produced analytical maps to understand the recent changes produced in the urban- rural space of Mercedes. I also had informal conversations with local and national government staff about plans and policies. The interaction between plans, policies, and foreign investments related to industrial agriculture and social mobility has created new orders and spaces in the city. The most vulnerable sectors of the society have not benefited from these new orders in space. Capital has increased the fragmentation of space between the inner city and the periphery and/or informal settlements. Recommendations center on how governmental institutions can develop new policies and regulations to improve and change critical aspects of Mercedes’ growth.

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This thesis documents and analyzes a building-type called chawl in Mumbai, India. Typically occupied by middle class residents, chawls provide access to a range of services and, most importantly, a social support-system that makes life easier in contemporary Mumbai. The research examines how chawls developed within the urban context of Mumbai and how they contribute to the social and cultural lives of their residents. Research methods include a literature review of books, journals, newspaper articles as well as pictographic record and interviews with residents living in the two-case study chawls. The analysis shows that a dense social network between the residents is one of the main reasons for them to live in the chawls. In a dense city like Mumbai, with a lack of affordable housing, chawls provide a sustainable model for middle class housing that should be maintained and can potentially serve as a model for future housing projects.

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Many theories have been proposed to improve urban living conditions, but still they do not manage to solve these urban problems. In order to develop a model that can fill this gap, parameters for urban designs have been formed here using various readings and case studies. These are summarized in the thesis research to develop the design model. After selecting a site in Chicago and conducting analysis programs are proposed taking into account research parameters and the context around the site. These programs are studied and demonstrated in the site in the form of a design model. The design incorporates the previous study of parameters and integrates various theories on future design models into a proposed solution. This proposal is a model demonstrating the need to incorporate a wide array of parameters while designing the built environment. The model is referred as `an integrated approach to the built environment’, where the research conducted for this thesis on various design theories is taken into consideration

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This thesis attempts to find out why homeowners are so ill-informed to the intricacies of owning a home in a historic district before moving in to one. It investigates through interviews where the information gap exists, and seeks solutions for homeowners so that they can take control and obtain the necessary information they need to be productive homeowners in their historic district as well as enjoy the neighborhood they’ve moved into. Education about a historic district can come in many different ways, but the obvious avenues are through real estate agents, neighborhood associations, and involved city agencies. Using interviews, four case studies, and additional research, solutions for obtaining education were identified. These include homeowners taking the initiative to do their own research on their valuable investment to ensure that they will be happy living there, creating a website that homeowners could go to that would allow them easy access to information about the historic district their home is in, and homeowners taking the time to talk to the board of directors for their neighborhood association and contacting other owners who have done rehabilitation work in the area and have worked with the local Preservation Commission.

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This thesis explores the influence of design evolution within the professions of architecture, industrial design, and engineering. Design evolution is a process that can be accelerated through collaboration between various groups linked to the development and production of designed objects. Working as interdisciplinary professionals, I support the incremental advancement of contemporary products in order to encourage positive human progress. As a case study, I investigate standard electrical systems used in architectural construction. It is apparent that for nearly 100 years the same basic electrical systems and components have been installed in buildings throughout the world. To promote design evolution in the field of architecture, I implement a scientific design approach to incrementally advance the designs of two century-old electrical components, the single-pole switch and the duplex outlet receptacle. The goal of this thesis is to investigate how analytical design methods can reveal incremental advances that yield more appropriately designed products.

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“The late emergence of national industries in Turkey in the 20th century created various challenges for the country’s development, including architecture and urbanization. With reference to Lefebvre’s notion that “politics” has the “privilege to embrace” the spheres of architecture, urbanism, planning, and the economy, this study analyzes the spread of the informal economy and informal gecekondu housing in Istanbul by making connections to the outcomes of the political and economic shifts in the post-World War II period in Turkey.”

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