2021 Projects

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http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/195996

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American College Town Mosque: a Study of Mosque Architecture in a Small College Town in the United States
Fairuz, Elham; Tripp, Andrew; Caffey, Stephen; Hankins, Rebecca
The mosque is the Muslim community's religious space. Why is this book interested in mosques, and specifically, why is the interest in the practices of the community? To answer these questions, we will need a little background here that will help with later discussions. Islam, as we know of it today, as the religion, began in the mid-6th century in the geographical location of what is modern Saudi Arabia. To be more specific, Islam was transmitted by its Prophet, Muhammad a resident of current day Makkah, the site of one of the largest annual pilgrimages today. The pilgrimage, along with a few other practices are the religious requirements of Islam. One of these is the prayer. Muslims pray five times daily, and they face Ka'aba during their prayers. The Ka'aba is a brick structure in Makkah, which Muslims believe was built by Abraham. Through ancestry, Islam claims its place with the other Abrahamic religions. When the Prophet began teaching Islam, and as the number of adherents grew, and prayer was made an obligation on every Muslim, Muhammad known to have prayed at the Ka'aba. No new structure was known to have been built at this time. People would have prayed out in the open, and that would have been the norm. Persecution and threats forced the Prophet to leave Makkah and travel north towards another city, Yaathrib or Madina, as it is known today. This is where the "architectural" history of the mosque is traced back to. The mosque is central to this architecture project. As an architectural "typology," the history of mosque architecture is studied as part of the history of Islamic architecture. This is the only building type that is directly associated with Islam as a religious practice. Although it is one of the most widely studied buildings within Islamic art and architecture, the religion or the text, i.e. the Qur'an, does not require the building of mosques. The only commandments are for establishing prayer in clean spaces and in clean clothes. Interestingly though, the Qur'an places emphasis on the maintenance and access to the mosque. With no religious prescription for creating dimensioned architectural spaces, the design development of the mosque is directly linked with the activities of the Muslim community from mid-6th century.
An Architecture of Restoration
Rampuria, Neha; Pentecost, Ray; Zhu, Xuemei; Lee, Chanam; Holliday, Ray
Echo Cancer Center is a project that will give architects an opportunity to design for the greater good and retrieve their relevance in an increasingly commercialized profession. This project provides enhanced care and a therapeutic and supportive environment for its patients, while spreading cancer awareness within the general public. It's a transition between the urbanized clinical settings and nature-rich surroundings.
The Forgotten In-Between: Activating a Neighborhood
Radwan, Sahar; Lopez-Dinardi, Marcelo; Burdine, James; Tate, James Michael; Holliday, Ray
Our urban experience is mainly divided by site boundaries and functions, where the in-between spaces are lost. By studying the hierarchy and relationships between the urban fabric parts, we can introduce a vibrant neighborhood where the built environment enhances its living conditions: therefore, supporting its dwellers' well-being and mental health.
Gateway Tower: Contextualism of the Supertall Skyscraper
Vu, Brian; O'Brien, Michael; Aitani, Koichiro; Lee, Chanam; Holliday, Shelley; Holliday, Ray
Supertall and Megatall structures, buildings defined as being 300 meters (984 feet) or taller and 600 meters (1968 feet) or taller, respectively, by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, are one of the most challenging building typologies to design and study. A great number of different factors affect their construction and the general outcome of the design. It is typical for these special typologies to meet a series of challenges along their timelines. New York City has certainly made its own contributions to the field of high-rise and super tall designs having started the race to have the tallest building in the world with the historic Chrysler Building being the first man-made structure in the world to surpass 1000 feet in height in 1930 only to be followed less than a year later by the Empire State Building to claim the title of tallest building in the world for nearly 40 years until the construction of the Former World Trade Center towers in the 1970s. Since then, a number of new constructions have forever changed the skyline with more to come in the near future. These constructions progressively follow the ever-changing needs of those who built them.
Genesis Rehab Center
Martinez, Jessica; Hamilton, Kirk; O'Brien, Michael; McCord, Carly; Haliburton, James
The Genesis Rehabilitation Center will aim to provide a design that benefits the well-being of the patient and staff, while promoting recovery and allowing those that inhabit the space to feel good while doing so. This project will provide 140,000 square feet of rehabilitation space and supportive housing. The rehabilitation and supportive housing buildings were placed strategically on site for several reasons. The main reason was to preserve the existing site elements, such as the baseball diamond and tennis courts. This will create an opportunity to expand these existing site elements in order to create an environment that everyone in the area will be able to occupy. The rehabilitation building was placed where the existing cul de sac was located in order to create a direct covered drop-off area for the police department that leads directly into the sobering department. South of the building will be a service road that connects to a garage in either building for waste management or deliveries. In addition, there will be space to create additional parking spaces for the staff, patients, family members, and park goers of the Genesis Rehabilitation Center.
Haven in the Meadows
Shah, Kinjal; Hamilton, Kirk; Lu, Zhipeng; McCord, Carly; Holliday, Ray
This project began with an investigation about creating an environment that facilitates the healing the process for mental health patients. The state of mental hospitals in current scenario lacks the continuum of care. To fill this gap of care, this project caters to the need of behavioral health facilities from acute care to residential treatment. In today's scenario, the need for mental health services have increased. The attention to overall health can only be achieved if both physical and mental health are taken care. There are many counties in the United States which lack basic mental health services. This project is located in Larimer County, Colorado, the county lacked any behavioral health services for its residents. Hence the need for facility was evident. With this intention, the "Larimer County Community Master Plan for Behavioral Health: Changing the Paradigm" was created to comprehensively evaluate the behavioral health service needs; identify gaps in the continuum of treatment and support services and outline a Five Year Strategic Plan to address them. The project consists of 16- bed unit cluster each for acute mental health patients, substance use, outpatient facility, and residential treatment. The design is based on principles of biophilic design and salutogenic approach. The research carried out for this project aims to identify the design guidelines to explore how architecture can be of aid in relieving psychological disorders by promoting a eunoia state of mind. The planning process was more focused on creating secured and unsecured environments without a physical barrier and facilitating spatial orientation in a more natural way. The investigation ahead will act as toolbox for designing behavioral health facilities with new outlook. The environment around the facility gives the patient a sense of coherence and choice control leading to feel more like home. At the end, the architecture needs to make a person believe that this mental and behavioral disorder can be controlled and this place will heal them. Hence the facility is a "Haven" for all the patients to give them new life purpose and the Zen to feel "Eunoia."
Hot//Cold//Warm: Reintroducing the Public Bathhouse to the American Society
Uran Sokoli; Ali, Ahmed K.; Zhu, Xuemei; Spengler, John; Gibbs, Brian
Reintroducing the public bath house to the American Society focuses on the important historical role of this typology in addressing public health and well being. In its beginnings the bath house served as a cleansing facility, while in modern times this function has shifted to the shower cubicle. While the function appears to have remained the same, there is a big difference to the archetype of bathing. Societies have historically searched for ways to create physical contact with water, but throughout history the same elements such as Spiritual, Hygienic, Therapeutic, and Social appear to have remained constant over time. (Croutier, 1992). "The role that bathing plays within a culture reveals the culture's attitude toward human relaxation. It is a measure of how far individual well-being is regarded as an indispensable part of community life" (Giedion, 1948).
The Hybrid: East Austin Community Center
Zavala, Sugey; Erminy Castillo, Marcel; O'Brien, Michael; Van Zandt, Shannon; Haliburton, James
"The architect's role is to fight for a better world, where he/she can produce an architecture that serves everyone and not just a group of privileged people." - Oscar Niemeyer. Architecture should be inclusive, for all ages and backgrounds. Socially inclusive spaces that support all age groups and backgrounds are important in every architectural building, but specifically in civic buildings. Community centers are a prime example of the need for inclusive architecture as they serve a variety of people, from children to adults, from unable to abled, from the poor to the rich. A community space has the ability to bring together a wide range of ages and backgrounds to interact and communicate as one. Through the study of hybridization in architecture and a proposition of architecture and a proposition of architectural tectonics, the hybrid community center serves as a space of interaction, connection, identity, and belonging for everyone in East Downtown Austin.
The Living Narrative
Martinez, Britteny; Aitani, Koichiro; Potvin, Sarah; O'Brien, Michael; Gibbs, Brian
Architecture is the canvas for the stories of our lives. It adapts and fulfills the needs of those around us, dispersed throughout cities that are constantly growing. Yet, as the world evolves and technology advances, architecture preserves the everlasting significance of the past. Architectural forms create usable space that can change and evolve through time. My research began when I questioned if there was a depletion in the demographics of architecture regarding the function of a building. Libraries have been a timeless foundation to knowledge are known to hold a significance in preserving the past through books, manuscripts, photos, documents, and other archives. My interest in how the space can change through the evolution of technology ultimately made me wonder how architecture can redefine the roles of a library of the future? The concept of a library is still useful for the growth of knowledge, but the space needs to evolve to incorporate the use of technology and all the things that come with it. When looking at the future of libraries, we see that libraries that were once totally physical are now becoming virtual. The individual focus has turned to community focus. Libraries once made for collection are now becoming spaces for creation and collaboration. Instead of presenting everything for everyone, it is becoming a presentation of more niche topics that are currently relevant (Rainie, 2018). With this understanding of the developing ideas of the future of libraries, I wanted to focus on a concept used throughout history and modernize it. The living narrative is a nontraditional library guided by the past with visions towards the future. Its mission is to enhance individuals' and communities' engagement in history and culture through storytelling; these stories will celebrate and bring awareness to the collective history of the world. The living narrative provides the opportunity to advance commerce in society through knowledge of the importance of the written world.
Luce Sacra
Zapata, Karina; Erminy Castillo, Marcel; O'Brien, Michael; Rising, Hope; Haliburton, James
Light can be controlled through six properties: intensity, color, angle, distribution, quality and movement. These properties can be combined to achieve three, distinct characters of light: focal glow, ambient luminescence, and play of brilliants. Focal glow is the celebrated limelight that draws attention and separates the important from the unimportant. As an intense, focused light, the effect gives a significant composition of attention on the targeted space. Described as an uninterrupted light, ambient luminescence is equal to indirect lighting. The resulting effect is a shadowless illumination that blurs edges and minimizes the importance of all objects - giving everything a neutral light. This can be achieved through translucent ceilings or carefully positioned openings. Crystal chandeliers, sunlight on rippling brook, light breaking through trees, city night life - each a play of brilliants. This character excites optic nerves and awakens an inner curiosity. Whether the act is distracting or entertaining, it certainly has the ability to attract the eye. The word sacred can often be described as "holy and deserving of respect" and has traditionally always been associated with religious places. Today, it can be used to describe a state of mind and as a word to describe the world around us. In the journal review, Sacred Landscapes and the Phenomenon of Light by Barbara Weightman, sacred is described as a notion that "consecrates places and turns them from ordinary to blessed, regardless of if they are man-made or organically exist in nature." Weightman also implies that sacred places cannot exist without the attribute of light. She notes that "the interplay of light and darkness within religious structures is intrinsic to an evocation of the holy. The phenomenon of light clarifies sacred space and is vital to the experience of the holy." In looking to modern-day architectural examples, many of these concepts have been used to instill sacredness.
MARU: Space Connecting People
Kim, Nari; Erminy Castillo, Marcel; Aitani, Koichiro; Juntune, Joyce E.; Gibbs, Brian
An orphanage is an institution where children who are not protected by their families are housed in groups. Many orphanages remain in South Korea although there are problems of collective children living. The project intends to redevelop an orphanage in Seoul to give children a better life through architectural design and to correct the prejudice towards orphanages. In the design process, the geometries and materials from the local context were applied. Also, the continuity of new children center and community was increased by using maru, a traditional Korean architectural element, along with the design of the exterior.
Memory Distillery: An Island Journey
Bangert, Brendon; Lopez-Dinardi, Marcelo; Fortenberry, Brent; Retchless, David; Holliday, Ray
Can we understand the memory of a place not by what remains but what has changed over time? When beginning the final project, the thesis was derived from general interests in adaptive reuse, visualization, and historic preservation. Although the final presented response embodies these interests, they remain supplementary to the overall goal of the project. The thesis question, serving as an ambitious backdrop, came from asking a bigger question: how can we use design as a tool to address the growing scars of climate change? The issue of climate change was originally approached, under a global lens, and left very little opportunity for a specific area of research. Until providing specific aspects of climate change to address, the project waded on varying locations in an attempt to narrow down research venues. Through combining the interests of visualization, historic preservation, nature, and maritime architecture, Galveston, Texas was selected as a location for where the project was to reside. After declaring the location of the project, the thesis was revisited, under the specificity of Galveston, with a focus on the preceding interests, and the umbrella of climate change.
Modular Regeneration
Grimes, Aaron; De Lima Vaz Xavier, Davi; Campagnol, Gabriela; Roberts, Andrea; Haliburton, James
Modular Regeneration is a communal hub that integrates the physical, social, and cultural environment rebuilding the identify and sense of place in Northwest Goldberg. Located in the Northwest Detroit area, considered deteriorated. Northwest Goldberg is regenerating due to the resident's ambition to assimilate, modernize, and improve their neighborhood. Ambitions manifest as converting blighted lots into plazas, market spaces, rock and community gardens. This project has five goals to temper these initiatives into formal regeneration: 1. Promote advanced manufacturing for Detroit; 2. Promote Northwest Goldberg's artistic culture; 3. Promote recreation; 4. Promote learning; 5. Promote commerce in Northwest Goldberg.
Mueller Community + Resource Center
Wilder, Danielle; Lu, Zhipeng; Pentecost, Ray; McCord, Carly; Holliday, Ray
The community center provides a foundation through resources to Austin families experiencing any kind of loss of home, job, or financial stability. An intergenerational support system is a vital part of the Center's structure, along with telehealth connectivity, education, job training, and childcare, aiming to reset the trajectory of a family's story.
Neighborhood of Hope
Lorenzo, Heather; O'Brien, Michael; Borges, Alejandro; Lee, Chanam; Edens, John; Lechuga, Sergio; Persky, Erin; Herrera, Adrian; Gonzalez, Francisco; Haliburton, James
The United States is the global leader in lock-ups with 2.3 million people currently in jails and prisons. Since the 1970s, marginalized groups, such as African Americans and Latinos, have been victims of an outdated criminal justice system. Due to policy changes in sentencing law and policy, the results have been overcrowding and fiscal burdens on the states. When the war on drugs initiative was approved in the late 1980s, under the Reagan administration, mass incarceration became a topic of controversy and then a reality as more minorities were put into the criminal justice system. This epidemic was the caveat for a new version of the Jim Crow laws. These disenfranchised minority groups were positioned into a caste system that was invisible to them as they proceeded through the custody and incarceration process. Regardless if you paid your dues and served your time, once you are put into the system, your rights are reduced to that of a second-class citizen for life. In the past 15 years, we have made some considerable and what seemed impossible changes to how we house those that have been incarcerated. Evidence-based research has been a driving force for such changes. The first humane prison was built in Halden, Norway in 2009. The focus was on detention and rehabilitation, designing for the inmates to move between the different spaces and buildings creating a relationship with time and place; necessary rhythms of life. In the U.S. the Las Colinas Women's Detention Center was built in Southern California in 2015. A college campus typology was used for the master plan with variations of outdoor spaces and large window openings to access natural daylight and take advantage of the Southern California landscape and climate. The interior spaces were designed to promote educational, vocational, personal, and spiritual growth. Staff members have witnessed a positive change in behavior of the inmates as well as a reduction in stress and anxiety in the work environment.
Neighborhood Sufficiency: an Environmental Model of a Self-Sufficient Urban Community
Anderson, Macy; Lopez-Dinardi, Marcelo; Caffey, Stephen; Meyer, Michelle; Haliburton, James
This project explores ideas of self-sufficiency through the design of a neighborhood-campus. This neighborhood is composed with easily accessible structures that are connected to multiple public urban mobility forms. This allows for the support of the construction of smaller groupings that connect to other network enclaves. The buildings themselves aspire and are proposed to engage with renewable natural resources, energy efficiency practices, and easily maintainable buildings and landscaping. According to Vicente Guallart, self-sufficient communities are composed of connections including six vectors or cycles that connect everything with everything. This includes information networks, the water cycle, materials cycles, energy, human transportation, and green systems. The community provides a connection with solar energy and allows for the ability for buildings to produce energy. Greywater systems are placed on the east and west sides of the site to allow for optimal ,sustainable irrigation of the urban park. Finally, the community needs a connection with human transportation. The roads have designated space for motor vehicles and bicycles. The sidewalks are designed with space for pedestrians on foot or bicycle travel. The neighborhood has immediate access to the metro rail. Guallart states that the "city streets and squares represent the spaces for human mobility; in traditional cities, they are the meeting places where paths cross, and spaces for social interaction."�
Outpost
Garibay, Luis; Hamilton, Kirk; Lu, Zhipeng; Elliot, Timothy R.; Haliburton, James
Salutogenics is an approach to human health that examines the factors contributing to the promotion and maintenance of physical and mental well-being rather than disease with particular emphasis on the coping mechanism of individuals which help preserve health despite stressful conditions. The mission of the Salutogenics resort is to establish a parallel healthcare network system in concierge medicine and sanatorium resorts. It is to be a borderless preventative medicine and healthcare system worldwide. The hallmark of the system is a series of sanatorium resorts, recreation, rehabilitation, convalescence, primary care, and elective surgeries. This project will establish a sanatorium resort complex at Southern Cross Ranch, New Mexico. The facility and its ancillary activities will be spread throughout the 29,000 acre ranch. Located in remote West-Central New Mexico, Southern Cross Ranch straddles both sides of the continental divide. With a rolling terrain ranging in elevation from 7,300 - 8,200 feet, the 29,000 acre ranch is able to support trophy bull elk, antelope and mule deer in a Pinion Pine and Alligator Juniper forest with grassy meadows in between. The rehabilitation center is located in the heart of this expansive ranch situated on a hillside overlooking a valley with expansive views providing veterans with a unique experience where they can get into the right mind-set to process the trauma that they have endured in a calm and peaceful setting. Derived from the concept of Salutogenics, Southern Cross Ranch is envisioned to serve the veteran community with a supportive and therapeutic healing environment to recover from the physical and psychological wounds of war specifically, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
The Power of Nature
Li, Yangzao; Lu, Zhipeng; Mann, George; Rybkowski, Zofia K.; Eide, William; Gibbs, Brian
The project name is THE POWER OF NATURE. The topic of the project is an Outpatient Care Center located in a sanatorium resort, which focuses on providing concierge medicine for VIP clients all over the world through Salutogenesis and biophilic design. Biophilic design is not a new concept and has been applied in many healthcare projects, but this project explored how to apply biophilic design strategies to reach medical concept Salutogenesis. The form and space of the whole project are designed to better meet the physiological and psychological comfort of patients and medical staff. Two areas of concentrated focus were outdoor courtyards (healing gardens) design and the sight communication in indoor space.
Re-Signifying the Old Nueces County Courthouse
(2021) Olivarez, Christopher; Lopez-Dinardi, Marcelo; Fortenberry, Brent; Lee, Chanam; Holliday, Ray
The project seeks to explore ideas that address the engagement that individuals have with historically charged buildings or monuments of their recent past. It focuses on the re-signification of an abandoned courthouse as a byproduct for the treatment of the site and its position as a potential bystander to the opening of newly acquired space replacing a large public infrastructural monument. The dynamic factors surrounding the courthouse present a unique opportunity for architecture to explore. Situated in between a growing urban and industrial center, the neglected condition of the building is also a physical embodiment of the decaying state of some of Corpus Christi's oldest neighborhoods, which currently stand as some of the last remaining monuments that thrived in conjunction with the courthouse. The dissociation of the building on site to the landscape is evident to both residents, local officials, and even tourists. The imminent removal of the hovering expressways will ultimately highlight this effect in the future. Therefore, the site intends to further support the community as a bridge for the residents of Corpus Christi's northside to the downtown area, which in itself is a connection to the rest of the city and even foreign travelers. The strict nature of the courthouse's presence will be juxtaposed within the site to demonstrate the evolution and progression of the landscape over time. When passing through this cultural hub, visitors will hope to experience and absorb aspects of what brings the residents of Corpus Christi together. The initial motivations influencing this approach to preservation stem from the intent to not treat the site as memorial; that it should be untouched, left as is. The project intends to celebrate community. The approach of intervention intends to guide us towards Re-Signification.
Red, Yellow, Blue
Echanove, Mariana; Erminy Castillo, Marcel; Roldan, Miguel; Reid, Russell W.; Holliday, Ray
Humans have coexisted with color since the beginning of civilization. It has been a fundamental tool to express ourselves, communicate, and tell stories. Color is deeply connected with how we experience life and inevitably it is a part of us. In the same way, color has played a very important role in architecture. It is a tool to convey specific quality, moods, and intentions for the project. Art and architecture have always evolved hand in hand, one influencing the other, resulting in a play on how we experience the built environment.

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