Architecture Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2743
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Item Medford, Oregon | Community Resilience in a Time of Change(2024) Bowers, Jessica Jane; Matthews, Georgeanne; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In recent years, like many places around the globe, Medford, Oregon and the surrounding areas have been severely impacted by events such as the Covid-19 pandemic which caused severe illness and economic hardship for countless families in the region. At the same time, the Almeda Drive and Obenchain fires of 2020 destroyed thousands of homes and left over 4,000 people displaced. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a plan for a revitalized community hub within a greater spatial network based around the Rogue Valley Shopping Center and the Bear Creek Greenway of Medford, Oregon. This place is intended to add another layer of sustainability and support to this community through the creation of programmed public space for finding peace, play, connection, and joy, while also connecting other supportive spaces within the community.Item 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.Item The Resilient Island - Revitalizing a Broken Home(2022) Peña, Alexander Bradley; Hu, Ming; Tilghman, James; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Disaster struck Puerto Rico on September 6th, 2017, when Hurricane Irma, a category 5 hurricane, breached the islands. Communities had no time to recover as Hurricane Maria, an even bigger threat, reached land not more than two weeks later. These two disasters happening in quick succession led to a devastating death toll of 2,975 people and caused a total of $90 billion in damages. This had been the most devastating disaster to hit in over 100 years. The people of Puerto Rico are still recovering to this day and are trying to find solutions to creating community resiliency. This thesis will focus primarily on what makes a community resilient and how to apply this to other Caribbean nations. Not all Caribbean islands face the same challenges and each one has its own identity. To assume that all islands are the same would be irrational. Additionally, this thesis will look at how a community can shift from being unconventional to very functional. Throughout the recent years, there has been a shift in design and function toward creating communities that are more sustainable, durable, and resilient. While this shift can occur easily in more modern societies, those that lack the resources to do so will continue to struggle unless proper support can be given.Item Enhancing Ellicott City: Introducing Resiliency to a Damaged Community(2022) Toth, Austin Robert; Kelly, Brian; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The historic Main Street area of Ellicott City has suffered massive hardships over the last several years, with two devastating floods causing considerable damage to the vibrant small business community. The county has already begun implementing their flood mitigation development plan which features a tunnel system to divert water from Main Street. While this solves some of the flooding issues, a redesign of the area is crucial to the restoration of the once prosperous community. With small businesses struggling, bringing more people into Ellicott City is important for its vitality. Currently, Main Street is seen as a destination, rather than a living space, even though it contains many of the amenities needed to foster a commercially vibrant and resilient neighborhood. Through tactical urbanism, there are many opportunities to infuse the city with new community spaces, higher density housing, and sustainable interventions, with the goal of creating an economically resilient community.Item Regenerative Aquaculture: Designing for Resilience of the Chesapeake Tidewater(2016) Sisson, Michael; Gardner, Amy E; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The Chesapeake Bay is out of balance. As the effects of decades of overharvesting, overdevelopment, and pollution have taken their toll, tidewater communities are confronted with a loss of culture, livelihood, and the environment in which they live. This thesis seeks to reframe the problem of regeneration of community and environment, through the use of resilient design. Resilient design is the process of designing for an uncertain at risk future. Through resilient design, architecture and aquaculture can be combined with food culture to foster stewardship of place. This thesis will explore interconnectedness of tidewater food culture, the waterman culture, aquaculture, and regenerative design in an effort to generate a holistic solution. The final product will consist of a methodology of planning for resilience at a framework scale, and will also propose an architectural solution that combines educational facilities with commercial aquaculture, to foster stewardship and regeneration in the Chesapeake Tidewater.