Towards a New Monumentality: How architecture can adapt the physical monument for a digital and post-humanist design future

Description

The monument as a physical object has been ever present throughout human history and as a program it oscillates between architecture and art. The motives, messages, and forms of representation found in historical monumentality are longstanding. With the maturation of

The monument as a physical object has been ever present throughout human history and as a program it oscillates between architecture and art. The motives, messages, and forms of representation found in historical monumentality are longstanding. With the maturation of the digital age in conjunction with post humanist design conditions in the near future, the existing mode of physical monumentality faces an existential crisis. This moment however provides an opportunity for the rebirth of the physical monument. This thesis seeks to explore, develop, and interrogate how new forms of monumentality can be adaptive, flexible, purposeful, and longstanding. Through the use of speculative future narratives, four unique approaches to future monumentality will be developed and followed through five snapshots over a thousand year period. Speculative future narratives will be created using the four future archetypes of Growth, Decline, Discipline, and Transformation as developed by Professor Jim Dator, Director of the Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The transitions between these four archetypes will provide societal and tectonic challenges that each monument will have to respond to. Once narratives and visual representations of these new monuments are created, they will be arranged in an analysis matrix using each of the four narratives and their five individual timeline moments which highlight and examine specific trends of spatial use, human interaction, societal relations, etc. From this analysis, an understanding of what the principles of a New Monumentality are can be determined in order to answer the question, how can architecture adapt the physical monument for a digital and post-humanist design future?

Date Created
2023-05
Agent

The Regenerative Confluence of Water

Description

The intent of this study is to develop a new eco-cultural design model of development for the Salt River watershed and surrounding areas with renewed respect for the land in modern society. It includes both conceptual and practical community guides

The intent of this study is to develop a new eco-cultural design model of development for the Salt River watershed and surrounding areas with renewed respect for the land in modern society. It includes both conceptual and practical community guides to facilitate and catalyze a new community-driven typology of planning prepared for rapid community change and climate challenges. This study includes the review of prominent existing projects, both regionally and globally, with expertise in the areas of urban development, culture and place keeping/making, ecology and water management. This study aims to exhibit the diverse components of urbanism and its effects on the Salt River corridor, surrounding urban ecosystems and climate. This thesis argues for simultaneous and codependent cultural and ecological growth and healing, and its necessity for sustainable urban development. Lastly, an urban revitalization framework is manifested in a community-oriented handbook based on key findings to produce a unified vision executed by watershed community co-design of the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Date Created
2021-05
Agent

The Necessity of Biophilic Design in Architecture: The Herberger Young Scholars Academy

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Description
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

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.
Date Created
2016-05
Agent

Discover Architecture: Recommendations for the Initiation and Implementation of an Architectural Education Program for Community Youth

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Description
The contributions made by architects to our society are rarely understood or recognized by the average citizen. Furthermore, architecture, though truthfully lacking in diversity, is a field plagued by unhelpful an incorrect stereotypes, deterring many from attempting to enter the

The contributions made by architects to our society are rarely understood or recognized by the average citizen. Furthermore, architecture, though truthfully lacking in diversity, is a field plagued by unhelpful an incorrect stereotypes, deterring many from attempting to enter the field. The blame is not on the community alone; by failing to engage in public discourse about the importance of good design in the built environment and remaining aloof, many architects have contributed to their own marginalization. Part of the problem is a gap in communication between architects and non-architects \u2014 how can we hope to understand one another when it appears that we don't even speak the same language? Some design advocates believe that basic design should be taught in schools, just as we teach algebra and English. This would allow architects to teach the basic language that we speak to a broad audience, thus expanding discourse and appreciation for the potential of the built environment. In this way, people will become actively involved in the spaces around them, and hopefully be willing to devote money and effort into the betterment of their community through the promotion of good architectural practices.
Date Created
2006-05
Agent