Architecture Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2743
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Item 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.Item COMMUNITY CATALYST: REINVENTING THE URBAN SHOPPING MALL(2018) Smith, Elisabeth; Curry, Daniel; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Over the past decade, shopping malls across the United States have been on the decline, many left abandoned and deserted. However, some urban shopping complexes have not yet been uninhibited, due to their proximity to city centers and established community space. This thesis proposition aims to alter and improve the paradigm of the urban shopping mall by redeveloping the existing single use format. The community space will serve as the foundation for several different programmatic functions that will be inserted into an existing mall, thus serving as a uniting agent at the heart of the building. These strategies will be applied to Stamford Town Center, a shopping mall located in the city of Stamford, Connecticut. This thesis will evaluate the opportunities for refining the existing mall and propose a more sustainable place-making solution, reinforcing this urban icon as a destination for culture and innovation.Item Growing the Destination: Revitalizing Downtown Hershey(2011) Douty, Sean Robert; Hurtt, Steven W; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Hershey, Pennsylvania, home to the famous Hershey's chocolate brand, has grown from a small factory village to a prosperous town of 15,000 residents, which in addition to chocolate making, also relies substantially on tourism and entertainment for its economic success. 3 million guests annually visit both Chocolate World and Hersheypark. Separating these attractions from downtown Hershey is a railroad line and right of way. Directly between the residential fabric of Hershey and the entertainment area is an historic core with a number of significant pre-World War II structures, in addition to contemporary attractions. All contribute to the prospect of a revitalized downtown. This thesis explores how architectural, urban design, and infrastructure interventions, particularly those on a downtown site with historic buildings, can improve the connection between the entertainment area and downtown Hershey, and can anchor a revitalized downtown. If successful, the destination might simply and all-inclusively be called Hershey.Item Rethinking Diplomatic Architecture(2011) Faughnan, Eric Hewlett; Kelly, Brian P; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis challenges the nature of current diplomatic buildings constructed abroad by the United States. The United States embassy and consulate, driven by fear of terrorism and the resulting requisite for security, has regressed from a dignified diplomatic center to an imposing fortress. Serving as a chief symbol of the United States abroad, an embassy should be a modest yet impressive structure, demonstrating diplomatic goals, fostering goodwill, and allowing access. In many capital cities within the Middle East and Europe, these symbols of America are often secluded from the urban core and are not an adequate representation of our nation. The new compound on the outskirts of Istanbul, Turkey demonstrates this contrast as it replaces the downtown, historic Palazzo Corpi with a daunting, hilltop fortress. Many building types have demonstrated successful implementation of security features while remaining in the public view and maintaining admirable design. In current times, embassy design must incorporate security features and still respect culture of the host country, employ innovative construction techniques, and demonstrate the American ideals in a way that are polite yet sincere.Item Connecting Community: Capturing and Patterning Orphan Space in Langley Park(2011) Pagan Aello, Jessica Alexandra; Kim, Julie J; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Alleys and parking lots provide but a few examples of orphan or "in-between" space--of residual land spawned by 1960s urbanism. These unclaimed spaces have latent qualities, often only visible to a community's inhabitants. These spaces, like all spaces, morph to reflect cultural values and needs. Their difference lies in their residual nature. They allow the disenfranchised to learn, sell, and gather flexibly. They lie in between "valued" and "value-less" space. Modern urban theory fails to address these spaces, instead overlooking the micro-patterning of space. By incorporating these spaces into a careful study of pattern at the scale of the city, community, building, and individual, one can connect a once fragmented community. Langley Park provides the case study for addressing these issues of urbanism, orphan space, and connectivity--it provides an example of capturing, patterning, and connecting orphan space at all scales.Item Connecting the Past, Contextualizing the Present, Constructing the Future: Bladensburg Interpretive Center(2010) Fischer, David; Kelly, Brian; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis proposes to investigate how the built environment can mediate the past, present, and future. By creating a narrative path through history and community, this design will show how the built environment can connect a place throughout time, help a community value what has created today and focus on what will create a better tomorrow This thesis will address these issues through the lens of a War of 1812 Bicentennial Interpretive Center located in Bladensburg, Maryland. Although the town witnessed one of the most momentous battles in American history, and is among the oldest municipalities in the region, modern Bladensburg under-utilizes its significant historic capital. Additionally, in-sensitive responses to environmental and regional transportation issues have torn through the city, dividing many of the potential amenities from Bladensburg citizens and stifling any hopes of commercial developmentItem [Re]Connecting Communites: Activating the Infrastructural Void(2010) Trice, Marcela Piedad; Ambrose, Michael A; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)"Once, a city was divided in two parts. One part became the Good Half, the other part the Bad Half. The inhabitants of the Bad Half began to flock to the good part of the divided city, rapidly swelling into an urban exodus. If this situation had been allowed to continue forever, the population of the Good Half would have doubled, while the Bad Half would have turned into a ghost town" _ Rem Koolhaas There is a tendency in recent urban development to allow for networks outside of architecture and urban planning to guide the development and growth of cities. To the cities' detriment they have become disconnected and isolated fragments of a once functional and united community. In his Exodus, or the Voluntary Prisoners of Architecture, Rem Koolhaas calls for an "architectural warfare against undesirable conditions." The highway interchange system found in many cities around the world could be considered such a condition. However, there can be more optimistic interpretations of such a site. The interchange provides an opportunity to rethink the interstitial spaces of a wasted landscape. An architectural intervention woven into the figure of an interchange can be the structure needed to graft the city to its original system of connectivity. The goal of this thesis is to investigate the possibilities of placing a unifying architectural form into an infrastructural wasteland.Item Public / Private Development in San Jose, Costa Rica(2010) Brodeur, Brian; Bennett, Ralph; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis will attempt to redevelop the area surround The Pacific Rail Station, Estacion Ferrocarril al Pacifico, in San José, Costa Rica in order to better use the land and create a real place within the historic fabric of the city. Embedded with in this goal is the need to create a unique destination with the centerpiece of development being a national assembly building for Costa Rica. This will be achieved by exploring the nature of public / private development and how it may be used to create change and development in the developing world. This idea of partnership between the public and private sectors has been used extensively here in the United States, but still has not gained as much ground in the developing world. By examining the realities of design and development a model for this type of development can be established. This directly challenges the current development models in San José. This new model of development should work to capture the value added by government investment and work to attract private capitol. Together this will work to revitalize a portion of the city that is currently under developed.Item Boundaries and the Built Environment(2010) Riggin, Alyse; Eisenbach, Ronit; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The human tendency for bounded space bridges time, place and culture. Boundaries can either be physical or invisible, permanent or temporal, political or natural, they can invite or exclude, unite or divide. Boundaries can assist in regulating communication between separate entities, but they can also isolate and be detrimental to the well being of their contents. It is a natural human tendency to place people and things into well-defined categories, and it can be difficult to dismantle our preconceptions about these categories. If designers are not aware of this predilection, harmful environments can be created if these boundaries are replicated spatially. The Oldtown and Penn Fallsway neighborhoods in East Baltimore, Maryland are disconnected and therefore isolated from their surroundings, and also function as a centrifugal boundary between downtown and East Baltimore. This thesis explores the rise and fall of these neighborhoods over time, and how a series of decisions relating to physical and sociocultural boundaries were instrumental in their eventual decline. This thesis explores how to dissolve those perceived and actual boundaries by weaving the urban fabric back into the surrounding context. By critically studying how boundaries related to the temporal, sociocultural, and ecological aspects of this site, Oldtown can once again be a healthy connected neighborhood.Item RE-DESIGNING SUITLAND, MD AS A TOWN/GOVERNMENT/EDUCATION CENTER(2010) Ganginis, Amanda Rachel; Hurtt, Steven W; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis explores an urban intervention in Suitland Maryland. Suitland is serviced by the green line of the Washington DC metro rail system, yet it has seen little to no development or increased density. The metro services a 230 acre Federal Center that houses government employees for different government organizations. The city outside the Federal Center has earned a negative reputation of crime and poverty; however, there are many assets within miles of the Suitland Metro stop that could inspire a new vision for this area of Prince George's County. A series of new public spaces will provide the opportunity for the residents, Federal employees, and visitors to come together. A community college will also be incorporated into the new urban plan. Physical, social, and economic connections between the Federal Center, the town, and the new college are likely to create a revitalized community in Suitland, Maryland.