This research and design project proposes an active (resilient/adaptive) architecture to address the problem of natural disasters in developing communities. Natural disasters are the outcome created when mankind stops listening and learning to the surrounding environment. They are like any other natural hazard created by the environment, or human activity, the only difference is that natural disasters are destructive, claiming lives and damaging economies of affected areas. Research shows that it is more expensive for a community to recover from a disaster than it is to prevent it from happening in the first place or trying to prevent factors that might increase fatality. Therefore, rather than dealing with the after-effects, this project proposes solutions for the prevention of the adverse effects of natural disasters during the process of building rural communities \u2014 to better adapt for those events. Furthermore, research has shown that natural disasters have little power in taking lives and weakening economies alone. In his book, 2000 Years of Mayan Literature, Professor of Anthropology Dennis Tedlock, explains that many historical civilizations collapsed in part due to the inadequate relationship between society and the environmental conditions upon which societies rely. He compares this situation with our own, pointing to the parallel between the isolation of Easter Island, set apart by the vast wastes of the Pacific Ocean, with the isolation of the Earth in space. Tedlock's statement remains relevant in our time, yet mankind still turns a blind eye, and together with unprepared infrastructure, natural disasters can become exceedingly devastating and have long-term destructive effects. Active Architecture is the form of architecture that adapts to challenges and reacts to them accordingly and repeatedly, according to challenges introduces and forces present. Architecture plays a huge role in how natural disasters are dealt handled. In an interview with Arbuckle Industries, architect and humanitarian Shigeru Ban argues that natural disasters are manmade. He says that the earthquake alone cannot kill a person, the collapse of a building does. The actions of mankind are implicit in the massive destruction when a disaster occurs. Ban stresses it is the responsibility of an architect to make safe spaces. My proposal is that safe spaces can be created through active architecture. One example of active architecture is the civilization created by the people of Badjao, a 21st-century sea people. They are a relevant case study in my research because of their five (5) core technics in creating their active architecture: 1) architecture can be collective initiative, 2) adaptability goes beyond the building, 3) successful design can be born from fragility instead of stability, 4) listen to their environment, and 5) use surroundings and ecological impact as the defining qualities of their work in the long-term. In this paper, I will discuss the techniques of active architecture through a study of natural disasters in the form of landslides that occur often in my native country, Rwanda. Landslides, floods, droughts and heavy rain all routinely affect the country, however, landslides are the most urgent problem to be dealt with. In the final section of my paper, I use my research to develop an architectural solution to the issue of landslides in Rwanda and I project what the future of the country could look like if the proposal is implemented. The proposal describes a more active form of architecture that is responsive to the site and offers a resilient yet solid infrastructural solution to the problem of landslides.

Architecture has an ability to shape us and focus on forms and efficiency yet frequently ignores relationships between the form and cognition. This negligence creates lost opportunities for creating a link between action and perception, embodiment and aesthetics, imagination and empathy. Architecture is frequently not empathetic, lacking meaning to far too many people. Considering the application of neuroscience in architecture to nurture psychological and physiological response to architecture may be key to fostering healthy and positive relationships with space. Another connection that comes up in neuro-scientific research is how creativity plays into design and the understanding of design. Often, creativity is accompanied by metaphor, and neuroscientist Ramachandran is particularly interested in this. A curious phenomenon he has focused on is synaesthesia, Synaesthesia is a Greek-based word, syn meaning joined and aisthesis meaning sensation. It occurs when "Stimulation of one sensory modality automatically triggers perception in a second modality in the absence of any direct stimulation to this modality." Further, the study and application of synaesthetic properties can help achieve this goal. Through the application of neuro-scientific research directed towards architecture, "Neuroarchitecture" is a possible tool that can create architecture that invokes positive responses in occupants. Through the consideration of building elements, natural forces, equal understanding, and synaesthesia, "neuroarchitecture" can be successful. Thus, with the consideration of neuroscience and synaesthesia there is a possibility of understanding what creates the certain emotions that one experiences in a space, and why people like certain places more than others. In a lecture covering this topic at Arizona State University's Design School, designer Ellen Lupton showed graphic visualizations of musical synaesthesia. Bird calls were translated into exceptionally fluid ribbons of moving color that ebbed and crashed with the rise and fall of the bird call. If these experiences can be expressed through digital art, then there may be a way to express them through architecture. The project takes focus on the architecture of flux, limbo, and threshold, within the specific context of the airport. The airport is a one of a kind architecture. There is little to no other architecture that serves as a threshold from one city, state, and country to another, that is full of people from all parts of the world, and is a space of limbo. In the flux of the airport, the individual feels a multitude of emotions, joys, sadness, frustration, and stresses. Studying circulation, movement of both the inhabitant and the architecture of the airport, the project will rigorously question if architecture can be scientifically formulated to create mental effects or if they are a result of atmospheric qualities.

In the age of social media, the 24-hour news cycle, and an overwhelming pressure to become "successful," there is a marked lack of personal connection within communities and a constant state of stress and overwork. This constant state of stress then builds into anxiety, as there are few public resources for mental reprieve. The World Health Organization reports that anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders worldwide, begging the question as to how they can be addressed most effectively worldwide. As design is implicit within any environment that provides for mental wellness, it must be carefully curated to provide not only the physical necessities, but speak for something beyond explanation- a sense of mental refuge and comfort. Using the concept of mindfulness, architecture has the power to force users to truly be present in the experience, activating space to become a mental refuge rather than a passive infrastructure.

The purpose of this text is to research and specify inequities present within three South American cities; Medellin, Columbia, Mexico City, Mexico, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This research then considers specific neighborhoods within these cities that have become underprivileged as a result of the inequities, and analyzes architectural insertions that have been placed in these communities in hopes of balancing the inequities secluding the communities from the rest of the city. With the information gathered from the three case study cities, another city, Tijuana, Mexico, is examined and ascertained as to what type of inequities are present. Using the methodology implemented in the case studies, a specific architectural insertion is proposed in relation to the problems at hand, with the intent of balancing the inequalities present in an underprivilege neighborhood in Tijuana. Ultimately, the text strives to demonstrate the power of architectural insertions within a community, while highlighting the importance of the effects upon the daily lives of the inhabitants, as well as the dynamics within the community and greater city.

Traditional educational infrastructures and their corresponding architectures have degenerated to work in opposition to today's scholastic objectives. In consideration of the necessity of formal education and academic success in modern society, a re-imagination of the ideal educational model and its architectural equivalent is long overdue. Fortunately, the constituents of a successful instructional method exist just outside our windows. This thesis, completed in conjunction with the ADE422 architectural studio, seeks to identify the qualities of a new educational paradigm and its architectural manifestation through an exploration of nature and biophilic design. Architectural Studio IV was challenged to develop a new academic model and corresponding architectural integration for the Herberger Young Scholars Academy, an educational institution for exceptionally gifted junior high and high school students, located on the West Campus of Arizona State University. A commencing investigation of pre-established educational methods and practices evaluated compulsory academic values, concepts, theories, and principles. External examination of scientific studies and literature regarding the functions of nature within a scholastic setting assisted in the process of developing a novel educational paradigm. A study of game play and its relation to the learning process also proved integral to the development of a new archetype. A hypothesis was developed, asserting that a nature-centric educational model was ideal. Architectural case studies were assessed to determine applicable qualities for a new nature-architecture integration. An architectural manifestation was tested within the program of the Herberger Young Scholars Academy and through the ideal functions of nature within an academic context.

Promoted by the city to increase land values and provide jobs in the barrios of South Phoenix, industry became a force of massive disturbance along Buckeye Road, interrupting the residential scale with large industrial lots, many of which have been abandoned. However, latent in the landscape are remnants of better times in the vibrant gestures of everyday urbanism.
Inspired by this palate of lively, idiosyncratic street designs—created out of necessity by people making-do—this project seeks to bring identity, value, and vitality to this challenging human environment.
This project uses concepts and processes of disturbance ecology and ecological succession, specifically the role played by pioneer species and biological legacies in the immediate aftermath of the eruption of Mount St. Helens, to develop an urban revitalization plan for Buckeye Road.

5 With over 55,000 pediatric deaths per year in the United States, there is a tremendous need for pediatric palliative and hospice care facilities. While this programmatic typology exists in several countries around the world - including over 45 centers in the United Kingdom alone - only two pediatric palliative and hospice facilities are operational in the United States. Offering a spectrum of care that extends from respite to end-of-life, these facilities would benefit over 8,600 children daily in the U.S. In addition to compiling research in order to build a case for the express need for such a facility, I propose that this typology requires a unique organizational scheme that diverges from the traditional program of home or hospital. Rather than adhering to the hierarchies found in a singlefamily residence, upon which the current model is organized, this new type of design revolves around the Nurses' Station as the nucleus of the facility. Additionally, the design relies heavily upon biophilic stratagem and play therapy, which further influence the program and form of the building. These tactics are used to enhance the psychological state of the patient, family, and medical staff and to mitigate the impact of a life-threatening or life-limiting illness.

While there is a growing desire for sustainable urban living, Downtown Phoenix remains a fragmented landscape with vacant land, underutilized areas, and a detrimental imbalance between commercial and residential uses. This project aims to fulfill this desire by connecting these landscapes to form a cohesive and ecologically viable urban fabric which will increase the well-being of people and natural systems through increased biodiversity, ecological awareness, and a greater occupation of the public sphere. Biophilic microdwelling communities, strategically inserted into Downtown Phoenix, can recover underutilized areas, create more urban housing, and introduce native species which will begin to transform vacant sites to create a cohesive urban frabric. As water, food, and refuge draw more organisms, a biologically diverse urban ecosystem will emerge and spread throughout the urban area, redefining the future of the city. The increased emphasis on social living in this new biophilic setting will strengthen personal and ecological well-being. After considering many varied interests and looking at what is most concerning in the world today, this thesis is devoted to the sustainable transformation of Phoenix, Arizona. A relatively new city, Phoenix is at a turning point in its development and is poised on the brink of defining itself for the future. The current paradigms of autocentric sprawl and habitat destruction have been challenged and new ideas developed. Phoenix is in a unique position to be able to begin a new sustainable type of progress. The process has already begun with high-density buildings and housing infiltrating Downtown, along with cultural amenities for the new occupants. However, the city currently remains much as it was after the abandonment of the mid 20th century when most residents left for the surrounding suburbs. Vacant lots and underutilized areas fragment the urban landscape, creating an undesirable environment for both humans and native desert organisms. The lack of residential development exacerbates the sense of abandonment as the city shuts down after business hours. The housing that does exist is typically high rise luxury apartments or condos wherein the resident is far removed from city life. The growing desire and need for housing which is affordable for young professionals or students and aimed to engage the city and streetscape has not been developed. The resulting emptiness has created a wound in the urban fabric that is only now beginning to heal, and it is how this wound will heal that will define the future of the city. Will the future development force the traditional unsustainable paradigm into being only to inevitably fail, or will a new sustainable paradigm, guided not by typical planning or thought processes but by unique conditions of the region and input from contemporary users, redefine Phoenix and set a precedent for the redevelopment of other cities? This project seeks to fulfill these desires by providing biophilic micro housing capable of acting as a catalyst for urban transformation. Some of the most underutilized and disruptive features of Downtown Phoenix are the parking garages. They often occupy an entire block and disrupt the streetscape with the detriment of single functionality. The location of these garages, however, is ideal for an urban housing and ecology catalyst based on surrounding resources and they would serve as insertion points for additive development. A greater diversity of habitat for both people and native species through a network of strategically placed, biologically loaded microdwelling communities which leverage these underutilized structures can meet this need and improve the well-being of residents of all species and the natural systems of the urban ecology.

I devote my thesis to the practice of adaptive architecture and parametric design. The interactive and adaptive design would be my interest and my research thesis will be the process of exploring the architectural potentials of computer-programmed architectural design which interact with human beings. Start with the adaptive architectural theory of Neil Leach and Sou Fujimoto's architectural theory of architecture type, I explore and test the possibilities with current tools. I did reseach on the current study and practice of adaptive and interactive architecture in 20 century. After a series of study and experiment, I decided to make the "mirror" as a portal of inside and outside a building indicating a vague spacial relationship instead of just a normal mechanic mirror. The "mirror" will able to translate the information captured from motion to another "language" presented by movable materials to surrounding people, which provides people space to reflect and interact with each other. And the device would be the prototype of my thesis. The exploration of technology in the field of architecture really attracts me. I enjoy the design process and the final product. I will pay attention to new technologies in the future and try to combine technology, art and architecture together to create new experience.

This project addresses the high demand of housing units in the Gila River Indian Community and proposes an architectural intervention with the intent of bringing tribal culture into the everyday context of the home. Initially, the existing condition is critiqued from an architectural and cultural lens, and establishes the current realities of the residents. An investigation of the existing condition and the surrounding context determined that the immediate contradiction to the existing house is the storytelling tradition of the Akimel O'odham and Pee Posh tribes. This project accepts and revises the existing condition and attempts to combine it with the fundamental traits of storytelling culture to create a house that encourages storytelling across generations, and serves as a space that allows residents to practice culture in the every day.