Architecture Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2743

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Start date: 2002Subject: search.filters.subject.Sustainability

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 27
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    Urban Sprawl & Critter Crawl: Imagining a More-Than-Human Way of Living
    (2024) Islam, Ramisa Maisha; Williams, Brittany; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Over half of the world’s population lives in urban areas and that number is projected to double by 2050. Cities and urban transects have an important role in addressing climate change. As urban population and development grows, we also see a decline in biodiversity. Humans are not the only species being displaced. Native species lose their natural habitats due to development and seek refuge in urban areas. The complexity of cities allows for urban biodiversity to find a home, but these urban habitats are still human centered, forcing species to fit within a human designed environment. This thesis explores the balance between human living and urban biodiversity to integrate into our cities. Implementing urban biodiversity strategies and more than human design in urban neighborhoods can help to restore biodiversity and strengthen human relationships with the natural environment. Combining these concepts can reimagine the city as a shared ecosystem that serves all species. An ideal shared ecosystem can support urban living, embrace coexistence, and foster a symbiotic relationship between humans and nature.
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    BREAKWATER – Breaking the Cycle
    (2024) Mora, Adrian Bernard Teneza; Gabrielli, Julie; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    How can ecological design principles prevent the erosion of the physical and social framework of low-income coastal communities? A significant portion of the world’s population is concentrated along coastlines. Direct access to the water provides access to a longstanding source of economic prosperity and a psychological connection to natural environments. However, human-influenced climate change has produced hazardous environmental conditions that threaten coastal populations, including many poor, vulnerable communities. Disparities in investment for public services, maintenance, and upkeep increases the vulnerability of these disenfranchised groups that cannot protect themselves. The built and natural environment within this diverse boundary zone between the land and sea must be redeveloped as a self-resilient ecosystem that can protect its inhabitants from climate-induced hazards. This renewal will require holistic approaches that can mitigate contemporary impacts to protect current populations at risk and adapt the built environment to better respond in the future.
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    Symbiosis: Recalibrating Design Thinking for the Urban Environment
    (2023) Ripley, Benjamin Allan; Tilghman, James W; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Architecture is stiff, rigid, and tough to change, but in an ever-changing world, our built environment needs to be able to respond in kind. Without planning and designing for adaptability, the built environment lags behind the numerous societal and environmental dynamics that challenge our present time. Impending issues of climate change and rapid urbanization are now forcing architecture to reexamine itself and ask, how will it respond to these complex demands? In the face of this challenge, this thesis will explore a conceptually different approach to the design process that demands an inherently different product. Through an emphasis on systems thinking and development, architecture can be designed to exist within a symbiotic relationship with the natural environment, where our buildings could react and interact with the shifting nature of our culture and natural environments over time. Thus, through this strategy inspired by organic organisms, the architecture is then able to better embrace the context over time and become a truly sustainable model for urban development.
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    (Stay)dium: Creating a community in an abandoned stadium through adaptive reuse
    (2020) Montecinos, Enzo Romeo; Hu, Ming; Du Puy, Karl; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Brazil’s love for soccer, their beautiful stadiums and the nation’s famous hospitality made the 2014 World Cup unforgettable for every tourist that visited. However, five years later the Brazilian taxpayers are not even close to paying off the most expensive tournament in Brazilian history. From the twelve stadiums constructed, all but four are unused, fraught with corruption allegations or serious structural problems. The stadiums have been abandoned due to loss of interest and high cost of construction and maintenance. The purpose of this thesis project is to focus on an abandoned stadium and re-purpose the structure with a mixed-use program, using sustainable strategies to bring forth a positive impact on the community.
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    Change is Coming: Pre-adaptability for a Resilient City
    (2020) Omidvar, Ava Toosi; Williams, Joseph C; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Since its inception, the Earth has been a living and evolving planet. Phenomena such as tectonic plates shifting and changes in the atmosphere have caused our ecosystems to change and evolve by natural events. Humans have been part of this ecosystem for the past 2.1 million years but have only stopped their nomadic way of life and built village settlements 10,000 years ago. Civilizations have faced many natural and human-made disasters forcing them to renovate, rebuild, or relocate. However, the frequency of these disasters through climate change will exacerbate these transformations. For many cities around the world where landscapes are being permanently affected by climate-induced landscape change, the built environment has the responsibility to adapt. How can architecture allow for change over time? When we know that intermittent floods are becoming more detrimental, how must we build our cities to prepare for living with water?
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    Sustainability Through Adaptation: Reimagining Existing Spaces with Mass Timber Construction
    (2020) Robbs, Amber; Kelly, Brian; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    In a period when it is becoming more and more apparent how we, as humans, have been negatively impacting our planet, it is important for us, as designers, to take a step back and evaluate how new methods of sustainable design can be incorporated into the existing built environment to leave a positive impression on our climate. We have discussed sustainability through design, building typologies, construction materials, and building systems but we can also explore the sustainable method of reusing the existing built environment. This thesis explores how adaptively reusing existing buildings can be a sustainable source of architecture. Buildings that have fallen into neglect and/or ruin can be revitalized through the construction method of mass timber to produce less greenhouse gas emissions during the structure’s life cycle while leaving a larger, healthier impact on our climate. This thesis explores the benefits of mass timber as a sustainable construction method and demonstrates how mass timber can be used as an alternative to steel frame construction on the site of a 1919 US Navy industrial building. The existing masonry and steel-framed structure stands as a neglected building that can be adapted through sustainable methods. By respecting the structure’s heritage and original purpose, this thesis proposes a secondary building and revitalization of the existing structure through reusing existing structures with recycled material, like mass timber. The thesis looks at opening the site to the evolving community of the Washington D.C. Navy Yard. Maintaining the site as a community gathering space, this thesis proposes a food hall program, building off the weekly farmers' markets that take place in the structure’s adjacent plaza, and aims to fill the community's need for a public civic space in the adjoining community library program. The program of this thesis aims to draw people in to explore the built environment of alternative and sustainable construction methods.
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    Oil to Island: Repurposing Southern California's Offshore Drilling Platforms
    (2019) Delash, Michael Dollar; May, Lindsey; Du Puy, Karl; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This thesis aims to explore an untapped opportunity that exists between the industries of energy generation as we move beyond the fossil fuel era as society tries to change course for a more sustainable and positive future. Within this scope, the goal is to focus on offshore oil platform structures and reimagining them in a context of sustainable energy generation. The primary objectives are to design a satellite campus for the southern Californian universities to learn from the unique site and conditions of the platforms. This thesis will explore the potential of the offshore oil platform in a new light, not as a symbol of the fossil fuel industry as it is today but of a pinnacle of a sustainable design and production.
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    Inform: Engaging Climate Action Through Didactic Architecture
    (2019) Goel, Juhi; DuPuy, Karl; VanderGoot, Jana; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Our climate is changing, and so must architecture. Climate change is a fundamental design problem of our time, and it requires us to critically examine and deviate from some of our established practices with regard to the building typologies, materials, systems and design approaches that we propagate. This thesis explores an alternative model for the way we build our future cities - one that is rooted in climate action. It examines the design characteristics of a high-rise timber tower in a dense urban setting, where it effectively acts as a Carbon Sink. It addresses a number of sustainable design practices within a mixed-use program that speaks to a varied audience. And in doing so, it employs didactic architecture - or architecture as a teaching tool - to educate its users about their consumption footprint and inspire them to participate in climate action on a scale that promises systemic change.
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    Energizing Sustainable Lifestyles
    (2017) Sahaniuk, Florencia; Ambrose, Michael A; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The decrease in energy costs to the population of Buenos Aires has increased the consumption of energy and the lack of investment in the infrastructure of the electric grid has caused for the province of Buenos Aires to experience constant blackouts in the built environment. The major blackouts have been seen within the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, where the urban fabric is extremely dense and where the residential areas are consuming large amounts of power during the summer months, December to March, while the energy infrastructure keeps deteriorating and cannot handle the demand of energy. This thesis aims to aid the barrio of Caballito by searching for an architectural solution in the residential realm to alleviate the impact of the blackouts. Caballito, has experienced the most issues with power and while it is away from the tourist areas, it remains very well connected through public transportation and is surrounded by essential amenities that allow for a sustainable lifestyle to be implemented.
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    SUSTAINABLE ISLAND WATER CULTURE COLLECT, PROTECT, RESPECT
    (2016) Manongdo, Justin Agustin; Simon, Madlen; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    As fresh water globally declines, our local communities are affected. This phenomenon is particularly acute in the islands of Hawai’i. The Hawaiians have a concept called Ahupua’a, which refers to the traditional land division system in Hawai’i. The goal of the research is to see how we can re-imagine island water culture to reintroduce authentic principles of the Ahupua’a to make modern developments sustainable. By addressing and understanding the experience, value of water, and history of its context, architecture can better be used as a tool for collecting, protecting and respecting water to create a deeper appreciation of this resource. This thesis project explores the human connection between water and landscape by utilizing architecture as a means for understanding the importance of this delicate resource. The research will be applied to the design of the Ala Wai Canal waterfront and boathouse in Waikiki. This project will serve as a test case for modern development with a focus on principles of the Ahupua’a and lessons to take for global uses.