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 Marley's Resurrection: Reimagining an Anne Arundel County Community Hub(2024) Sanabia, Rafael Christopher; Cross, Marcus; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Shopping malls over the course of American history have served as key hubs for visitors (either local or distant) to shop, dine, and be entertained. Though many malls have evolved with time and society through the incorporation of modern architectural elements and consumer needs/amenities, several shopping malls have faced significant declines. The rise of online shopping, fast fashion, high maintenance costs, lack of modern consumer/community amenities/needs, and outdated environments are some of prevalent reasons that have caused these retail centers to fall victim to abandonment, neglect, continual ownership change, and financial issues– ultimately becoming “dead”. Exhibited distinctly by Marley Station Mall in Glen Burnie, Maryland, this historic community hub in Anne Arundel County is now an outdated, low tenant and visitor occupancy building that no longer serves its community efficiently. This thesis will explore the redevelopment of this historic dead mall site into a new, sustainable community hub that meets its community’s needs and supports the county’s general development plan, Plan2040 that will positively impact the future.Item Are Houston's Land Use Relationships Unique?(2021) Dorney, Christopher Leh; Knaap, Gerrit J; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The city of Houston, Texas has been at the heart of a long-running debate in the United States on government’s proper role in the land development process. As the only large American city that never adopted a city-wide zoning ordinance, Houston is often cited as an example for why more or less government planning is needed. Some authors claim that Houston is an outlier when it comes to land use relationships, with strange land use juxtapositions quite prevalent. Other authors argue that zoning is largely redundant to market forces and that Houston’s land use relationships are not all that different from zoned cities. The purpose of this study is to inform this ongoing debate by undertaking a quantitative analysis of land use relationships across large American cities to determine if Houston’s are distinctive. The study develops several metrics to quantify land use relationships and uses principal component analysis to determine if Houston is an outlier. The findings indicate that Houston’s land use relationships are not substantially different from those of zoned cities.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 URBAN DISCONNECT: URBAN COHOUSING AS SOLUTION TO SOCIAL ISOLATION(2018) Johnson-Williams, Malik-Jon E; Simon, Madlen; Lung-Amam, Willow; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)More than ever, Americans are experiencing the negative effects of infrequent social interaction and thinning social networks. However, the ‘loneliness epidemic’ is only one part of a greater issue facing the nation: the steady decline of community within America. The rise of social disconnection among Americans is further evidence that today’s communities can no longer be considered socially sustainable. Beginning with a literature review of social disconnection and social capital theory, this thesis will analyze social factors’ effect on individual and community health. Next, an analysis of alternative community models will be used to identify architectural strategies for promoting social interaction. Using the factors identified in both the literature review and precedent studies, a set of design guidelines for community development will be created. These guidelines for development will then be used to design a new urban community in the redeveloping business district in Wheaton, MarylandItem Designing Happiness: Architecture and urban design for joy and well-being(2016) Habtour, Rebecca; Simon, Madlen; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Scientific studies exploring the environmental and experiential elements that help boost human happiness have become a significant and expanding body of work. Some urban designers, architects and planners are looking to apply this knowledge through policy decisions and design, but there is a great deal of room for further study and exploration. This paper looks at definitions of happiness and happiness measurements used in research. The paper goes on to introduce six environmental factors identified in a literature review that have design implications relating to happiness: Nature, Light, Surprise, Access, Identity, and Sociality. Architectural precedents are examined and design strategies are proposed for each factor, which are then applied to a test case site and building in Baltimore, Maryland. It is anticipated that these factors and strategies will be useful to architects, urban designers and planners as they endeavor to design positive user experiences and set city shaping policy.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.