Light Forms Function

Light is essential for understanding design as well as living and working in structures. Although it cannot be produced, its perception shapes architectural spaces and forms. It creates a mood by lighting surfaces with texture and materials. It also has a significant influence on our biological and mental well-being. This thesis will investigate the programs, different lighting strategies, and typological precedents used by design schools, as well as collect questionnaires and interviews from building users. To enhance and support users' daily lives, it will also examine methods for capturing, rerouting, darkening, and framing natural and artificial light luminosity. The University of Maryland's School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Building would eventually be redesigned using the knowledge acquired. Due to the amount of time, students spend in schools, it is essential to design primarily for the visual requirements of the users and their expected functions inside a given space. This is because schools may serve as students' second homes

Bioclimatic Design: Research at Assateague State Park

Final project for ARCH600/611: Urban Studies and Planning Studio (Fall 2021). University of Maryland, College Park.Through their work with the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland (UMD), the Maryland Department of Natural Resources commissioned this report from the university’s Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS). This research study, conducted in a graduate level design studio, began with a shared vision that people and nature can co-exist in a mutually beneficial relationship. Angela Baldwin, Park Manager at Assateague State Park, and her colleagues from NOAA, the Maryland Park Service, the Chesapeake Coastal Service, and other DNR offices, challenged the University of Maryland team to test this vision in the design of a new day use facility for Assateague State Park, a much-beloved, special place that is increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The climate crisis requires architects to deepen their understanding of resilient design strategies. These range from place-based climate-responsive knowledge rarely taught in schools of architecture, to more technically advanced tools such as computer energy modeling, efficient mechanical equipment and on-site renewable energy.Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MDNR