School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/1607
The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.
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Item A Safe Space: Designing a LGBTQ+ Youth Resource Center(2022) Fuller, Sarah N; Noonan, Peter; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In the continuing struggle to combat youth homelessness it in necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of existing services and infrastructure. Somewhere between 1.6 and 2.8 million youth identify as homeless in the United States. 47% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ+ in Washington DC, while only accounting for 7% of the population. Faced with a myriad of challenges, LGBTQ+ youth find themselves facing homelessness without access to services to meet their complex needs. Washington DC has a rich LGBTQ+ history and community that is connected through people and the built environment. Throughout its history and today the LGBTQ+ community has created safe spaces for its members to come and be together. Through the exploration of the adaptive reuse and addition of a historic building, this thesis seeks to create a LGBTQ+ youth resource center to aid in the development of supportive services and housing for at risk LGBTQ+ youth.Item 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.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 Transforming the Rustbelt: Adaptive reuse of industrial buildings in the context of the Rust Belt.(2015) Petrusic, Luke James; Noonan, Peter; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This project seeks to address the problem of the future of industrial ruins / cities within the larger context of the US rust belt. Many of these Rust Belt cities face challenges of decaying infrastructure, overburdened social services, population loss, increased crime, and pronounced civil decline. This thesis seeks to find a program or architectural intervention that capitalizes on abandoned industrial buildings that can be seen as catalysts for revitalization. The city of Johnstown will be examined as it has many of the key traits of a rust belt city. The architectural response to these set of problems must manifest at the regional, city, and site scale to address the question of whether such interventions in Johnstown can serve as models or catalysts for new industries, alternate uses, identity, social structure, improve quality of life, and an embodiment community ideals? The industrial ruins in rust belt cities are the embodiment of political decisions, social circumstances, economic factors and unique architectural features. Any intervention must address these embodied forces in order to create a viable transformation and to make Johnstown a showcase of what these places could be.Item Dynamic Intervention: Reawakening the Detroit Boat Club(2014) Kopf, Anne; Draper, Powell; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Built in 1902 on pilings in the Detroit River, the Detroit Boat Club (DBC), a stunning Spanish Colonial building, was once a lively sport and social club. Its historic building fabric, paralleling Detroit's rise and fall, stands as a monument to the city's downfall. What remains today is the DBC Rowing Team, who, despite its success, relies on volunteers and meager donations to maintain the decrepit building. In an attempt at revitalizing the DBC, this thesis will explore the intricate connections between various elements of Detroit's social and cultural history. Such elements include Detroit's music history, specifically Motown Records, as well as the growth of the automotive industry. Through this exploration, this thesis project will address the following question: to what extent can these cultural and social connections be applied to the building revitalization process in a way that honors the building's past and prepares it for a vibrant future?Item D[Constructing Architecture](2014) King, Marques Gilbert; Lamprakos, Michele; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Cites are in a constant state of flux. The progression of time through the centuries has yielded numerous examples of entire transformations of a given city's economic, environmental, social, and cultural structures which in turn shape the physical city. In some instances those structures are allowed juxtapose themselves against each other creating a beautiful palimpsest. In other instances those layers are lost due to the changing forces of the city. As a result the narrative and the image of the city is lost. Where this is most applicable is in the context of shrinking cities. This thesis proposal will seek to explore ways in which the retention of a city's physical history and its memory can be reconciled within the context of a shrinking city. It will question, challenge and hopefully transcend current themes in historic preservation and adaptive-use taking a critical approach toward structures and systems that have lost their reason for being. The testing ground for this proposal is Detroit, Michigan.Item DYNAMIC SPACES: INTEGRATING PRESERVATION AND DESIGN AT KNIGHTS FERRY(2013) Neuhauser, Stephen; Rockcastle, Garth; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Integrating the disciplines of Historic Preservation and Architectural Design can provide opportunities to re-vision cultural and building traditions in a modern context. To demonstrate how these opportunities can be met, this thesis will explore the transformation of an abandoned historic mill building in Knights Ferry, California, into an olive orchard and oil production center. The design will create flexible spaces for use by the community and visitors, introduce a new economic foundation on which a renaissance could be built, and provide an opportunity to revitalize and repurpose ruins that have fallen into disuse, combining them with new buildings, landscapes, and reasons for being. This thesis maintains that by recovering and revitalizing disused historic places in a sensitive and dynamic manner we can ensure that these places not only remain relevant, but encourage the creative evolution of history and tradition.Item Dupont Underground(2013) Fox, Kristen Ashley; Noonan, Peter; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The construction and subsequent abandonment of the streetcar tunnels below Dupont Circle in Washington D.C. speaks volumes about our culture and how we choose to treat our resources. The current tension regarding the fate of the site is an opportunity to re-evaluate the possible uses for the structure. This thesis will explore the roles of public space, historic preservation, and civic discourse in the urban environment. Topics of focus include: overcoming barriers to reuse, analyzing abandonment and desire, and questioning existing notions of authenticity.Item Transforming Together: Reconsidering Adaptive Reuse(2013) Crenshaw, Emma Elizabeth; Noonan, Peter; Simon, Madlen; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis examines the evolving and transforming relationship between building and community. It is a study of the past and present of a community and its architecture in order to propose an adaptive plan for a place that involves the adaptive reuse of a historic building. Utilizing theory related to vernacular architecture, critical regionalism and phenomenology, a framework for study is applied to a case study. Peckham, a district in South London in England, and one of its former industrial buildings, the Bussey Building, serves as the case-study. Peckham is home for a mixed "fringe" community that is in a process of transformation that is linked to the area's industrial past. In order to explore sustainability in a more holistic and human way, this thesis posits a question: Can architects design buildings to adapt to a continually changing situation, physically mapping the relationship between architecture and community over time?Item Sustainable Placemaking: Restoring the Vitality of Underutilized Infrastructure(2013) Taylor, Michael David; Bovill, Carl; Simon, Madlen; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)A city experiences natural manipulation through time as the demographics, economy, technology, and industry evolve. As a result, formally prominent sites and buildings become neglected. This thesis explores a model of sustainable placemaking that adaptively reuses currently underutilized infrastructure to sponsor a restored definition of place for a community. I will illustrate how a small town has the opportunity to inform the larger society that living in a self-sustaining localized environment is achievable. The model of sustainable placemaking is illustrated through a case study in Frederick, Maryland. This historically sensitive, yet progressive, city offers exemplary circumstances of how a modest sized town, attentive to preserving its historical heritage, can incorporate sustainability. My study focuses on a blighted area, adjacent to a newly developed pedestrian creek front, to demonstrate how the City of Frederick can revitalize its sense of place with the sustainable redevelopment of existing underutilized infrastructure.