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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    Bounded Tourism: Immigrant Politics, Consumption, and Traditions at Plaza Mexico
    (Taylor & Francis, 2007) Irazabal, Clara; Gomez-Barris, Macarena
    Conceived and owned by Korean investors, the shopping mall Plaza Mexico in Southern California embodies a unique case of invention and commodification of traditions for locally-bound immigrants and US citizens of Mexican descent, showing the force of the contemporary processes of deterritorialisation and reterritorilisation of identities and the recreations of imagined conceptions of homeland. The Plaza is a unique architectural recreation of Mexican regional and national icons that make its patrons feel ‘as if you were in Mexico’. Plaza Mexico produces a space of diasporic, bounded tourism, whereby venture capitalists opportunistically reinvent tradition within a structural context of constrained immigrant mobility. While most of the contemporary theory of tourism, travel and place emphasise the erosion of national boundaries and the fluidity of territories, the case of Plaza Mexico brings us to appreciate this phenomenon and its opposite as well – the strengthening of national borders and their impact on the (in)mobility of millions of individuals.
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    Sound, Awareness and Place: Architecture from an Aural Perspective
    (2007-12-17) Bryant, John W; Eisenbach, Ronit; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The human experience of sound is an essential element to our understanding of the built environment. However, sound has played a minimal aspect in the construction of meaning in contemporary architecture, and is given little attention in architectural education as a source for design inspiration. This thesis investigates sound as an architectural, cultural and environmental phenomenon through the design of a small listening pavilion. This thesis has two goals: 1) To provide an exploration into the potentials of sound as a source for design inspiration and architectural meaning. 2) To provide a space that heightens one's awareness of sound, both in the environment, and within the space itself.
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    Regenerative Place-Making at Benning Road Metro Station: Architecture as a Determinant of Identity in the 21st Century
    (2004-05-20) Way, Michael A.; Bowden, Gary; Sachs, Stephen F; Architecture
    Where "placelessness" occurs, inhabitants' potential for finding an existential foothold is compromised. Residents' identities are existentially dispossessed. The effect of such dispossession generates a spectrum of unfavorable behavior patterns, ranging from apathetic malaise to criminal activity. "Regenerative Place-Making" will explore design in a viable but overlooked urban environment. Located near a Metro Station at East Capitol Street and Benning Road, the site is the geographic center of Eastern Washington and is a potential gateway intersection for the district. The urban design will investigate exterior space issues, mixture of uses, and transit-oriented development as stimulus for surrounding neighborhoods. The architectural design will address creation of a landmark, to set character and programmatically anchor the intervention. Character will be rationalized by mnemonic and tectonic aesthetics. Approached holistically, "Regenerative Place-Making" can revitalize neighborhoods, individual identities, and community pride, all of which can reduce crime and raise the median quality of life.