Theses and Dissertations from UMD
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
Browse
459 results
Search Results
Item Testing the Limits: A DC Ecoblock Creates Community for Everyone(2019) Rowedder, Patricia; Gabrielli, Julie; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Loneliness is an emotional feeling that represents disconnection. With one in five people suffering from loneliness, it has become a public health crisis. Ranked second in the nation for loneliness, Washington DC is three times the national average. The transient nature of the greater DC population has created a negative perception on the city, causing people to either move on or move out. Such a progressive and influential city seems stuck in a stagnant pattern, not reacting to the constantly changing density, mobility, and needs of the built and non-built environment. This thesis aims to explore the connections of ecology and psychology of architecture through a superblock typology in an effort to battle loneliness in the nation’s capital. A superblock is a large-scale entity both extroverted and permeable composed of business, community, and other institutional programs, each different but overlapping in a common elements and connections. The superblock throughout time has been given a negative connotation because of exploited failed attempts. When using the principles correctly, however, the superblock typology provides endless possibilities and solutions to connect, engage, and ignite community interaction through strategically placed nodes of space and diverse program. If one were to take create new principle site, culture, and health specific, could a meaningful interaction and connection through a ecoblock in DC be created?Item Invisible Crisis(2018) Goldstein, Gregory; Du Puy, Karl; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Since their introduction to the built environment, mechanical systems and building technologies have been taken for granted. They are insulated, buried, removed from view, and expected to perform the single task expected of them. In 2012, David D. Cosner developed a report on University of Maryland’s continued deferred maintenance entitled “Invisible Crisis.” The University of Maryland, hosting goals to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, must make the state of its mechanical infrastructure a priority. This thesis explores the power of mechanical infrastructure to propel us into a future of integrated design. Pre-existing consolidation of mechanical elements within SCUB (satellite central utility building) structures are a point of focus. New SCUB(s) act as performative infrastructural monuments, utilizing proximity of elements to increase functionality. Occupants will be immersed in the functions necessary for campus/building operations, forming a tactile connection between university occupants and their biproducts/energy usage.Item St. Ann's Unity House; Architecture as a Means of Supporting Family Structure(2019) Hess, Joanna Leigh; Curry, Daniel; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis is a transitional housing program for young mothers or expectant mothers who are ready to take the next step in their independence. This facility is an extension of an existing Catholic charity called St. Ann’s Center for Children Youth and Families. Women who find themselves in threatening situations with their child can stay at St. Ann’s while they gain their strength. This thesis acts as a stepping stone between St. Ann’s structured and protective environment to complete self-sufficiency. The main focus for this thesis is providing a safe environment that fosters growth, health, independence and a supportive community for these women and their children.Item Access to the City: Physical, Economic, Social, Inclusion(2019) ramos, Adan Jose; Kelly, Brian P; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT Urban Renewal Highways built following the National Highway Act of 1956 perpetuate a culture of inequity and segregation by acting as socio economic dividers in many postindustrial American cities of the Great Migration. In the Post-Great Recession Real Estate Boom communities disconnected by these highways have received little to no investment, while communities in desirable locations have faced displacement. Southwest Baltimore, Maryland embodies the former. Separated from the heart of Baltimore by Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard the neighborhood has made modest strides in recovering from urban exodus and institutional racism involved in home loans, red lining, and block busting following World War II. As cities revitalize, now is a critical point in history to improve connectivity across Urban Renewal infrastructure and provide access to improved quality of life in communities like Southwest Baltimore, while maintaining affordability and existing culture. To maintain these physical dividers in place is an endorsement of divisive urbanism and subsequent inequitable culture.Item Jakarta Underwater: Rising Seas as Opportunity(2019) Gilmartin, Lauren Michelle; Eisenbach, Ronit; Hendricks, Marccus; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)According to the UN, by 2100 nearly 5.25 billion people will live in coastal megacities in the global south where infrastructure, energy production, and water management has not kept pace with rapid urbanization. It is projected that this mass global migration will occur in Asian and African cities that also have the highest risk of vulnerability to climate change effects. The most concerning of these is sea level rise that could displace billions of people and submerge entire cities. This global transformation threatens massive humanitarian crises, ecological degradation, destruction of historical and cultural treasures, and the global economy. This thesis proposes a solution that integrates city development, coastal infrastructure, and public resources by merging architectural innovations and planning to create a protected megacity with a high quality of life and resiliency. These solutions will ease the effects of sea level rise and offer a promise of a better future for the planet -- ultimately creating a net positive solution for coastal megacities of the future.Item Death in the Round: A Critique of Funeral Architecture and Burial Practices(2019) Jesmer, James Nicholas; May, Lindsey M; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Traditional Cemeteries are known for their groomed, grass lawns with headstones denoting rows of graves. These environments often use vast swaths of land and serve as biological monocultures with one purpose—to hold people who have passed. Spaces like these are only activated when a burial takes place or when friends and family visit the deceased. Because of this, cemeteries are often placed at the edges of society and all but forgotten during everyday life. This distance augments society’s negative association with death. A cemetery complex will be the focus of this thesis. Consisting of ceremonial halls, mortuary, crematorium, and a refectory for repast, the complex will promote sustainable interment practices, serving as a model for future cemetery sites. The grounds will offer a variety of landscape typologies that accommodate the needs of natural burial, while providing programming for a waterfront park throughout the year. The location for this thesis will be on the urban edge of Part Covington in Baltimore, remediating a brownfield site and giving it back to the community, instilling values of environmental stewardship.Item Connecting Crossroad: Designing an Equitable Future for Langley Park and The International Corridor(2019) Ghafar Samar, Sara; Bell, Matthew; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Langley Park is a largely low-income community in Prince George and Montgomery County Maryland with a majority of foreign-born residents and a mix of small businesses and relatively dense multifamily housing. The arrival of the Purple Line Light Rail is both an opportunity and a threat to the vast amount of market-rate affordable rental housing and the strong community and culture of residents, businesses and social institutions of the area. Immigrant communities may be poor in capital, but they are rich in culture and foci of cross-cultural connections. This thesis aims to address the needed attention to this transit center, the international corridor, and its adjacent affordable residential area to produce equitable transit-oriented design solutions and action plans that will protect the area’s affordable housing alongside addressing the communal and cultural goals of the immigrant residents by creating cross-cultural urban spaces of connection.Item Hoboken Exchange - Transforming a Gateway into an Experiential Destination for Consumers(2019) De Carlo, Andrea Vincent; Bell, Matthew; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Hoboken Terminal contains five modes of public transportation, each of which, connects Hoboken to its surrounding municipalities, the rest of New Jersey, and to New York City. Hoboken Exchange explores how public transportation could be used as a means to capture the value of people in an area. Through the use of a market hall, this project looks to connect detached places, capitalize on commuter movement, and utilize flexible design to ensure adaptation to future social and market needs.Item MEADWORKS – HYDROLOGY, ECOLOGY, MEAD AND ARCHITECTURE(2019) Huck, Kyle Patrick; Noonan, Peter; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis seeks to redefine the relationship between communities and water infrastructure through a scalable and adaptable hybrid architectural solution. By focusing on the ambiguous intersection of nature and the built environment, this thesis will make an attempt at place-making in a setting typically disregarded by cities and communities. Challenging the boundaries of public infrastructure, architecture, and landscape architecture, this thesis will provide a dynamic solution to the water pollution epidemic of the Chesapeake Bay that involves subliminal community awareness and engagement. Through the program of a meadery, beekeeping, agriculture, and brewing will integrate with water treatment infrastructure to mutually benefit all processes.Item THE CONCEPT SCHOOL: SCHOOL THAT CREATES CONNECTIONS(2019) Ham, Jessica Jiyoun; Abrams, Michael; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis examines the pragmatic implementation of a concept school design that integrates contemporary views on learning and education. A common problem of schools is social isolation and this isolation occurs at the student, teacher and community levels. In order to mitigate these social isolation problems, a primary school is designed with three aims. First, the location of the school is proposed within an urban and vibrant area in downtown Silver Spring as opposed to schools commonly located in residential neighborhoods. Second, a curved building design is explored to connect schools with local businesses and to further develop shared spaces that can be used by students and the community. Third, the interior layout attempts to enhance experiential learning, social interactions and community integration. Through its architectural design, the Concept School, pursues to mitigate social isolation to design a school that creates lasting connections between children, teachers and the community.