Throughout history religion has often been the root of conflict among people. Dissonance has not only existed among people of different religious groups but also among various sects within a religion. Commonalities and conflicts co-exist in the different religions; this thesis focuses on the...
AbstractOvercrowding, violence, and inadequate programs for deterring recidivism and promoting reform make contemporary American prisons costly and unsafe for prisoners, prison workers, and American society. Criminality and the American judicial system have changed considerably over time, as have...
Thesis StatementThis thesis deconstructs POLO Ralph Lauren advertisements under the lenses of American lifestyle & values and feminist theory highlighting how interior design helps define the POLO Ralph Lauren brand, synonymous with the American Dream.AbstractDavis, Heather, POLO Ralph Lauren...
The college learning environment is comprised of physical and psychological space, within which students engage in the transitional process of acquiring knowledge. With regard to the college level learning environment, the majority of the attention has been focused on updating the curriculum and...
Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, is a rural agricultural borough situated in the heart of Franklin County. There are several existing agricultural buildings no longer being used for their original purposes, and the landscape is dotted with these iconic structures. These buildings offer significant...
In order for an art gallery to be inviting to the public it must be accessible, engaging, and comfortable. In other words, one must be able to access the gallery, have the desire to go to it, and be at ease while in the space. This is necessary to sell the artwork and to promote the artists, and...
Using the ethos of the Whole Food Movement as its foundation, I will design a sustainable restaurant that redefines pleasure in the food experience. My thesis project is the creation of a green restaurant; green both in terms of its purpose and its design implementation. The foundation of this...
Upper Arlington and Dublin Crew teams have been competitive high school rowing organizations for over twenty years. Currently the team is housed in what was supposed to be a temporary compound, a compound that provides no security, no shelter and no identity for the organization. By analyzing the...
While music can mean something different to every person, the collective experience of music is fundamental to our social nature. Music acts as an instigator for the sharing of stories, ideas and emotions. In today's society, digital formats make it easier than ever to buy music, but the...
The PTSD Veteran, deterred by a stigma associated with those diagnosed and receiving treatment for this disorder, are not seeking out or receiving treatment. As a result, alternative treatment centers are attracting veterans in need of help. These treatment centers focus on a re-connection of the...
To Each His Home will educate people on design with the goal of making them better consumers and giving them more power over their choices. This idea arose from the overwhelming welter of materials and resources that inform but do not teach. The result will be more informed consumers and...
While other more affluent areas of Washington DC are currently experiencing bursts of development with new culinary destinations to explore, East of the Anacostia River, there are only 3 sit-down restaurants to serve over 100,000 people. While the majority of the residents in this part of town...
ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study is to explore the emotional and physical effects of a healingenvironment that uses art therapy as its main modality of treatment. The exploration focuseson the connection between emotional well-being and physical health, which occurs as a resultof creating art....
With the rise in natural and man-made disasters, those affected are prone to develop mental anxiety and stress due to their experiences. The militarized type operational systems for preparation and planning of shelter areas during disaster relief efforts must address the emotional health and lack...
The role of the tavern has transitioned as America has attempted to redefine itself from a colonial society with a dependence on alcohol to a more controlled, restrained society. Taverns historically served as multifunctional spaces: community center, networking center, civic center,...
Online-only retailers have begun to experiment with physical locations, due to the fact that there are certain items that customers will always want to touch, feel, and try-on. This cannot be replicated online. This creates new obligations of space for the brands that were initially conceived to...
The mountain resort model has essentially remained unchanged since 1864, which exposes a disconnect between maneuvering the built environment and managing awkward sporting equipment. Hoteliers and resort developers have largely ignored the emotional and financial significance of the sporting...
This project is to redesign two existing cafes at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.. One cafe is in the neoclassical West Building and the other cafe is in the modern East Building. This project aims to design two cafes which reflect the unique collections and atmosphere of each...
At the Epoch Hotel in the Joseph H. Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, guests encounter a unique hotel experience while gaining a new understanding of Modern art and design. This private hotel grants guests a behind the scenes pass to the world beyond museum galleries and invites the...
The Exploration of the Art of Creation and Preparation in a Culinary LaboratoryThesis Statement and Abstract Enticing the senses: Truss is an intimate culinary laboratory where interaction between the chefs and the participants stimulates a fully sensory experience of eating.Conceptual...
An urban winery holds a unique allure its own paradoxical existence by offering both a novel experience to an urbane audience, but also by permitting its visitors to learn while they eat and drink. The city-dweller, especially in the Washington Metropolitan area, whose citizens are some of the...
AbstractThe importance of human interaction in a third place, is supported by research of the unique yet essential characteristics found in informal public meeting places like the French salons of the 18th century, ancient Roman baths, Turkish hamams, Russian banyas, and Finnish saunas. These...
This project proposes the design of a post-surgical inpatient rehabilitative space, which will serve as a universal prototype for patients with spinal cord injuries. This facility will illustrate a more efficient spatial configuration that not only incorporates administrative resources into the...
Air travel is a necessity, and reality, for many millions of people each year. On average travelers' experiences within the airport are less than favorable, and often stressful. Airports across the board are missing the mark. There is an unexplored opportunity, to provide guests with a...
Chronic social stress severely impacts one's health and well-being with cumulative everyday stressors being more detrimental than acute periods of stress. Nature is proven to be restorative and immediately reduces levels of psychological and physiological stress. It is the fractals within...
For this thesis I will be studying the tourist, the fragmented memories of a day's tourist activities, and how I might be able to create a place of repose for people along a tourist network. I will be studying the National Mall as a tourist network. I will also be exploring the option of using an...
In the past fifty years there has been a dramatic incline of furniture and furnishings in the municipal waste stream. The amount of excess that is terminating in landfills will continue to rise unless there is an intervention that occurs that alters the way that consumers operate. This Thesis...
The focus of this thesis is on nomadic work culture and the use of parasite architecture in urban environments. Dining, shopping, entertainment, and hospitality are all functions that take place in a designated space over a relatively brief period of time. The manner in which we work is vastly...
Vantage Point Lodges:A Sustainable Treehouse ResortAccording to the International Ecotourism Society, ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the wellbeing of local people, as well as being a form of tourism that ecologically conscious...
The Solar Do-Nothing Bridge investigates the potential re-use of the 11th Street Bridge inWashington, DC as a place for amusing recreation and community gathering.The bridge will be fully off-grid, obtaining all necessary power and water from the rain, sun andthe visitors themselves, through...
Over the past decade, the measurement forsustainable design has become a national standardizedpoint-based system. The U.S. GreenBuilding Council's (USGBC) measure, Leadershipin Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) RatingSystem, is the leading national standard for evaluatinga building's level...
For over a century music clubs have presented entertainment, social networking and community in environments that have spanned numerous genres and movements. These venues are of paramount importance to music appreciators and artists from all genres and cultures. For those who favor "indie"...
The border between the U.S. and Mexico is a very long and mostly uninhabited area where natural environment and political jurisdiction collide. It is a threshold between and merging of cultures through migration and surveillance. The desert environment, harsh and beautiful, amplifies the urgency...
With the advent of email and online bill pay, the United States Postal Service has found a decreasing demand for physical Post Office sites and has begun closing facilities nationwide, leaving behind thousands of uninhabited buildings. Looking to the near future, it is predicted that The United...
The design field has seen a new wave of artists choosing to work in domestic handcraft. Some artists have turned to traditionally domestic crafts to make a social statement to the masses while others employ knitting, crocheting, and weaving for the intimate experience of manipulating materials...
In Baltimore Maryland, Perkins Homes, an affordable housing project built in 1942, has become an area of crime, desolation, and poverty. Perkins is one of the eight original public housing developments built to accommodate returning soldiers from World War II. The original design intentionally...
The mention of modern design and the aesthetics ofthe Deep South do not often occur in the same sentence. States such as Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and the Carolinas boast a deep-rooted culture, founded on traditions dating back to the Antebellum Era... and their architectural and design...
The "Bed and Breakfast" (B&B;) concept, as known in the United States, is in many ways an outdated one and is generally found in rural places. This project reinvents the B&B; as a contemporary private/public gathering space that offers the modern day traveler a setting to interact with fellow...
The built environment helps shape our individual and collective identities. Preservation of place and adaptive reuse of buildings celebrate the dynamic of the future and address the lessons of the past. They celebrate diversity, recognizing the value of old and new, ofmodernity and tradition....
Due to an increasing rate of mobility within the workplace and the hi-tech equipment available, communication and work has become more efficient and can happen almost anywhere. More and more people are finding that instead of having more free time, they are only working twice as much. I propose...
Specialized student housing options cater to subgroups that either share focused interests or participate regularly in skilled activities. This manner of housing is most successful when it is designed to encourage study, promote a sense of community, and effortlessly provide access to a student's...
America has become a nation defined by its consumerism. In a single day, Americans are exposed to over five thousand advertisements that encourage the relentless consumption of cheap and disposable products. The act of shopping has become a mindless experience, one that is represented by...
Creative, interdisciplinary exchange remains a largely unexploredfrontier in the culinary world. Furthermore, no venue currently exists inWashington, DC that allows chefs and creatives to collaborate with eachother. The city's newly dynamic dining scene and artistic community isfertile ground for...
This thesis project explores the realm of laundromat design both through text and conceptual design application. The text specifically explores the history of laundry and how laundromat design can be improved not only to provide a cleaner and more stimulating atmosphere for clients but also to...
Designing the Hyphen: Linking identity and architecture in Bacardi's former Miami headquartersBuildings do not stand still. They reflect and affect the cultural, political and historical identity of the moment in which they were created - and both reflect and affect the moments that follow.Shifts...
Through digital processing I am proposing an installation of yoga sequences by analyzing human body movement to the built environment. Each pose morphing into the next will create a relaxed and comfortable experience in the metro station for individuals passing through.Yoga is performed to create...
A thorough study into the societal differences between males/females and masculinity/femininity reveals the existence of a dichotomy, primarily defined by, "a division into two especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities."I The two groups of people are seen as binary...
The Memory Bank project, based on the concept of a bank as a place for safekeeping, was designed to show a means of producing an exhibit whose objective was to enable and facilitate the sharing and preserving of knowledge about a transplanted ethnic group. Both the importance and necessity of...
Abstract"As I grew up and became engaged in activities which promised to lead to India's freedom, I became obsessed with the thought of India. What was this India that possessed me and beckoned me continually, urging me to action so that we might realize some vague but deeply felt desire of our...
The youth hostel has been loved as one of the most inexpensive accommodations by travelers for over 100 years. Usually, the purposes of using hostels can be classified roughly into two groups: getting a budget priced room or socializing. However, most hostel designs are based on dormitory...