The OAKTrust Digital Repository
The OAKTrust digital repository at Texas A&M is a digital service that collects, preserves, and distributes the scholarly output of the University. The repository facilitates open access scholarly communication while preserving the scholarly legacy of the Texas A&M community.
Recent Submissions
Sheltering Symbiosis
(Texas A&M University, Department of Architecture, 2025-04-25) Abigale Timmerman
Architectural design holds the potential to redefine the relationship between human activity and animal well-being signified around structured spaces. Through tedious research in behavioral tendencies and thoughtful consideration for very meticulously formulated organizational patterns, the project goals address varying scales of interaction: those between urban patterns and natural landscapes, structured components and living beings, and most importantly renewed interaction between animals and humans.
URBAN CANVAS
(Texas A&M University, Department of Architecture, 2025-04-25) Lee, Sunjin
Urban Canvas explores the intersection of architecture, urban policy, and social change through the adaptive reuse of closed public schools in South Korea. Using Hwayang Elementary School in Seoul as a case study, the book investigates how declining birth rates, aging populations, and shifting urban dynamics have left once-vital educational infrastructures abandoned. Through detailed site analysis, demographic research, and architectural intervention, Urban Canvas proposes a design strategy that reimagines these spaces as inclusive cultural hubs serving both younger and older generations. Integrating public programs such as language classes, dementia prevention education, art galleries, and green plazas, the project emphasizes connectivity, accessibility, and the renewal of underutilized urban space. The book combines visual data—maps, diagrams, and image renderings—with critical reflection, offering a socially engaged architectural approach to urban regeneration in high-density, mixed-use neighborhoods.
At Crowded Tables
(Texas A&M University, College of Architecture, 0025-04-25) Savannah McDougal
This final study project challenges typical urban construction by drawing people from different walks of life towards a site that integrates generational demographics, community-based spaces, site and agricultural engagement, and an educational awareness of how food is not only cultivated, but also consumed. The project respects the existing institutions in the city and operates in harmony with the seasons, allowing the focal practice of cooking to take shape as a skill that draws from seed to table, creating a site that has a life cycle of growing, harvesting, cooking, and eating, all sustained within its boundaries. By using Albert Borgmann’s framework of focal practices, the project critiques the commodification of skills used to sustain life, and instead puts the practice of producing at the center of the site. The site development is inspired by principles found in Samin Nosrat’s Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, which explains cooking through principles that can be exchanged and passed down. Through programmatic selection, topographic integration, and site zoning that creates urban pathways punctuated by framed transitions, the site connects cooking to many demographics and presents the entire life cycle of a meal as central to learning how to cook and eat. The architecture uses material transitions, structural articulation, and variation in pattern to create an intimate experience that brings the user through a story of production.
Lifepath Crisis Care Center
(Texas A&M University, College of Architecture, 2025-04-21) Patel, Hani B
The Crisis Care Center is a conceptual facility designed to address the urgent mental health and substance use needs of adolescents and adults in a therapeutic and supportive environment. The center prioritizes the holistic well-being of its users by incorporating features that promote safety, comfort, and recovery. The design includes specialized spaces such as crisis stabilization units, and acute stabilization areas for someone need longer support after immediate stabilization all structured around acuity-based zoning to ensure seamless patient transitions. Therapy rooms tailored for adolescents and adults, sensory de-escalation spaces, and community engagement zones are integrated to address the diverse needs of patients and their families.
Outdoor courtyards, biophilic design elements, and flexible treatment modules further enhance the therapeutic experience while supporting staff well-being. This center prioritizes principles of human centered, and 7 Flows of Healthcare approach. This academic study explores the potential of architecture to not only house treatments but also function as a catalyst for recovery. Through innovative planning, empathetic design strategies, and community integration, the Crisis Care Center sets a precedent for creating dignified, patient-centered environments that destigmatize mental health care. Developed as part of a Master of in Architecture program at Texas A&M University, this project aims to contribute to the broader discourse on behavioral health design while offering a model for future crisis intervention facilities.
Austin Cancer Wellness Center
(Texas A&M University College of Architecture, 2025-04-25) Covarrubias, Alejandro
This project proposes a comprehensive cancer treatment center located in the medical district of Austin, Texas directly across from the University of Texas campus hospital. Addressing a critical gap, Austin remains the only major Texas city without an NCI designated cancer facility. The design emphasizes holistic, efficient care in a comforting, home-like environment. Drawing from personal experiences navigating cold, impersonal hospital settings during a loved one’s cancer treatment, the project focuses on improving both patient and caregiver experiences through thoughtful architectural solutions. Key features include centralized departments such as infusion, imaging, radiation, pathology, and surgery to streamline care, reduce stress, and accelerate treatment. The design integrates nature through a healing courtyard, rooftop gardens, and generous natural light to enhance well being and recovery. Material choices, circulation flow, and spatial layouts prioritize functionality and emotional comfort. By aligning with key visual corridors to the Capitol and UT hospital, the project strengthens its urban context and accessibility. Ultimately, the goal is to establish a state of the art facility that fosters healing through design, research, and innovation, creating a transformative impact on Austin’s healthcare infrastructure and community.