Dreaming of Home: Connected, Emotional, and Inspiring Dwelling in New York's Superblocks

In the past, homes provided a way to connect to the world, the community and oneself. Moving through time, the house changed shape and these connections became weaker, yet the longing for a home where one belongs stayed. A reimagining is needed, as homes today lack meaningful bridges to this desire to dwell. Nowhere is this needed more than affordable housing superblocks that provide essential homes. As these houses age, the future of housing will depend on the reaction to worsening conditions. Can an architectural intervention prevent a reset of New York City?s housing stock and learn from the surrounding area to create a stronger sense of home in an urban area? With the existing framework of these superblocks, the aim of this project is a reimagining of the poetic potential of the Riis Houses. A dream to have a home that is more connected, more inspiring, and more emotional

Chrysopoeia: A Transcendental Metamorphosis of Consciousness

As of 2024 the world is in a mental health crisis. Now more than ever mental health is an incredibly important topic, especially after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the situation as dire as it is, places like Oregon have started to turn to using psychedelics in treating mental illnesses due to their proven effectiveness in healing the mind. As of January of 2023, Oregon passed legislation that allows for the use of a psychedelic compound known as psilocybin at licensed service centers. With psilocybin still being classified as a schedule one drug under federal law, its use is limited to the grounds of licensed service centers. Since patients are only allowed to engage in this type of therapy at these service centers, it is crucially important that the design of these service centers creates an environment that significantly aids in a patient?s mental healing journey. The goal of this project is to propose a design and typology of architecture that can assist in the transformation of a person?s consciousness for the sake of better mental health and ultimately attaining a more fulfilling life. We have long distanced ourselves from our inner being due to the lives we live today with modern technology and due to the way that we are used to thinking in society. By better understanding our minds through the work of Carl Jung and tapping into our consciousness and unconsciousness, we can vastly change the way that we think and become whole with ourselves through the practice of individuation. The practice of the use of psychedelics and other forms of wellness and therapy such as cold exposure therapy, nature immersion, community building, and exercise can help people navigate the inner depths of their mind to work past the mental barriers that hold them back from becoming mentally healthy

Absorbent Minds: Challenging Utopia Through Atmospheric Architecture

Since the time of John Amos Comenius the way in which we teach has remained constant. A simplified metaphor for learning amplifies the argument that the view of early education is in a utopian state. When in reality the curriculum is a mold to fit learners into, that prepares them to become a cog in the wheel we call the workforce. The goal is to combat this problem using principles from both the Maria Montessori and Reggio Emilia approaches to learning to create an atmosphere that inspires learners and allows for the flourishing of creativity and self-discovery. This thesis aims to reinterpret what it means to practice a deeper meaning of learning in and out of the classroom setting

Redevelopment of the Administration Block of the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex for the New BitZero Community

The focus of this Thesis is to examine the proposal for the redevelopment of the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex administration block, by presenting an analysis of its transformation into a sustainable community development for the BitZero data mining center. Initially constructed as a missile defense installation during the Cold War, the site has since become obsolete, creating an opportunity for revitalization. The primary objective is to emphasize sustainable practices, integrating renewable energy sources and promoting green infrastructure while preserving the site's historical significance. Additionally, this study will explore potential challenges, including contamination remediation and infrastructure development, proposing practical solutions to ensure a safe, resilient community. Through a blend of qualitative and quantitative research, this work contributes to the broader discourse on the adaptive reuse of military facilities, demonstrating how strategic planning and community engagement can transform a once-isolated site into a thriving community

Solar Harbor: Nurturing Nature in Industrial Design

Warehouses are places where productivity and cost reduction meet to create highly profitable, efficient structures. At this intersection, however, there also lies a concrete box with little regard for the employees that toil within. These boxes, in addition to their disregard for human needs, interrupt nature in a massive way, destroying ecosystems for various lifeforms and leaving a large carbon footprint. These large, intrusive structures pose many problems regarding modern design, and contain outdated and unsustainable building practices that lead to many natural and societal problems. A thorough investigation of current warehouse design indicates all the afore-mentioned issues. This thesis strives to address some of these issues and provide solutions to problematic design practices. Specifically, this thesis focuses on a warehouse residing in the Fargo/Moorhead area, designing a warehouse that provides an update to the current structure, integrating natural lighting, sustainable design practices, and improvements on the building?s current program and layout

The Landing Park of the Mid-American Steel: Bridging the Past and Future Through Soundscape Analysis

Good soundscape quality in parks can only be provided with a thorough understanding of the complex relationships among sound, environment, and individuals. This study explores visitors' perceptions of the urban park soundscape to relieve stress. The study employed a mixed-methods approach consisting of an objective sound walk survey, a questionnaire survey, and a landscape design approach to improve sound quality in urban parks. Approximately 234 park visitor responses were obtained from online questionnaire surveys administered in the Fargo, North Dakota, region. Objective sound measurements were conducted at 53 survey spots on four different days, two days in the morning and the other two in the afternoon, corresponding to the questionnaire. The findings unveil that acoustic comfort evaluation, besides visual comfort evaluation of landscape, also plays a vital role in users? acceptability of the urban park environment. The soundwalk survey collected visitors' perceptions and evaluation of the urban park soundscape. At the same time, the qualitative questionnaire survey explored visitors' experiences and preferences regarding the soundscape for stress relief and preferred locations to visit inside the park. The literature review and study results showed that visitors perceived the urban park soundscape as essential for promoting stress relief and relaxation. Visitors preferred natural sounds, such as bird songs and water sounds, over human-made sounds, such as traffic and construction noise, as they were more calming and pleasant. The study also found that visitors had varying preferences for the intensity and complexity of the soundscape, with some preferring a quiet and straightforward soundscape. In contrast, others enjoyed a more diverse and complex soundscape, where an above-average decibel range of anthropogenic sounds did not deter the park users' willingness to stay. The results suggest that urban park designers should consider the soundscape as a crucial element in promoting stress relief and well-being for park visitors. Furthermore, these results are applied to the Mid-American Steel site in Fargo, North Dakota, a post-industrial site with a strong historical background. This site has potential features for urban park development and civic facilities to make a good connection between downtown Fargo and the bank of Red River. The major challenge of this location is the rail track, which has passed through the site and, in this design, reduces decibel levels of rail track using a gradient of priorities based on park programming

Tourism and Sustainability: Strategies for Designing on the North Shore of Minnesota

The North Shore of Minnesota boasts vast natural beauty, a plethora of recreational activities, and a thriving tourism industry. In order to protect the North Shore?s natural scenery and tourism industry, sustainability and ecotourism must be heavily considered when designing here. This thesis will investigate sustainable design methods and ecotourism tactics that are specifically catered towards the North Shore. Through the design of sequential cabins, this thesis will provide a view of these methods and tactics in action. Two regions in the North Shore will be the subject of investigation, the Nearshore and Highlands, as these are the most common regions of travel from visiting tourists. The designs of these cabins will reflect the unique environment present is the Nearshore and Highland regions of North Shore, as to properly represent how these sustainable strategies can be implemented when designing while keeping tourism in mind. From literature review and case study examination, this thesis is a compiled list of methods and tactics that provide design options to reduce impact on natural scenery, are environmentally conscious, and benefit tourism

Meeting Inevitabilities: How Architecture Can Aid in Our Acceptance of Death and Improvement of Life

Meeting Inevitabilities seeks to explore design in relation to life, death, and memory. In the modern age, there is a significant lack of space for human interaction and connection surrounding the events of death, which further contributes to the divergence of death from life, life from memory, and memory from death. The designs aim to bring forth the divergence in one space, and explode the ideas and design outwards, where these three elements can be perceived together in a new way, in a reversible convergence

A New School: Alternative Learning Environments for the Future

The benefits of how educational architecture can leverage outdoor spaces and natural light to enhance learning, and promote sustainable learning is important to study for the future of the education system and how we can enhance our children?s future. Research will explore existing studies, analyze quality and subpar current projects, and explore additional sustainable factors that can help the educational environment. This research introduces a better understanding of how vital getting students in daylit and outdoor access environments is to shape the future of education and sustainable design

Expedition Interim: Projects on a Journey Towards Equity

As systemic local inequities continue to malform cities without official accountability, the options for architectural intervention seem limited. Not many artistic avenues exist to combat issues of unilaterally failing infrastructure; and to address an issue so thickly sown across modern cities may require intervention at an infrastructural scale. Additionally, what?s catalyzing displacement in one neighborhood may be different in another. This thesis explores how we could respond to the nuances of cities like Seattle, Chicago, or New York City. And how can a project have both a practical usage and convey a symbolic stance against inequity by simply being? This thesis proposes temporary installations of projects in various locations, the purpose and use of which can be decided by the everyday public, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), or locally appointed leaders. These projects aim to establish a new layer of public infrastructure which responds to everyone?s shifting needs for space rather than permanently planting projects with narrow solutions