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School of Architecture

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College of Design

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 18

Rethinking downtown highways

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-12-21) LaRoche, Lealan Dorothy Marie

Freeways have had a strong influence not only on the urban transportation but also on downtown areas both physically and socially. Certainly, they have extended the commuting limits of the city and made lower land costs more accessible. However, many of the mid-century freeways, once championed by planners as tools for urban renewal, have created swaths of blight through city neighborhoods. Their negative impacts on the larger urban framework requires new ideas for healthier alternatives to aid in preserving and building sustainable cities. Removal of any downtown highway requires careful thought— even more consideration than when it was built. Quick solutions are what resulted in the problems that downtown highways of the Interstate-Era have today. If it is the simple interactions between people and place are that make up the positive aspects an urban environment, then what are the possibilities and strategies for removing urban highway, which are one of the primary impediments separating people in place in contemporary cities? This question is the focus of this thesis. At its core, the removal of freeways represents a trade-off between mobility objectives and economic development objectives. Evidence from other cities’ decisions to redesign or remove their downtown highways suggests multiple benefits. Making design changes, such as to replace a downtown highway with a well-designed surface boulevard, can stimulate economic activities without necessarily causing traffic chaos. Solutions come in different shapes and sizes. The selected case studies in this thesis reflect a diversity of approaches – suggesting no single strategy exists for addressing downtown highway issues. This reflects the fact that multiple alternatives must be considered in every situation because each approach varies in costs and opportunities. A typology of highway alternations derived from the case studies includes seven different techniques: burying, demolishing, taming, capping or bridging, elevating, retaining, and relocating. The final chapter applies the conclusions from the case studies to the Downtown Connector– Interstate 75/85– in Downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Urban design and transportation planning has an emerging new set of values. Transportation planning is seeking to promote alternate modes of transportation to the private vehicle, like transit, by foot, or by bicycle. We now understand that connectivity is not served only by highways but also by urban street networks that invite modes other than just automobiles. An important role for urban design will be to shape the way these interactions are made to benefit the citizens, its urban spaces, and the economy.
Computational fluid dynamics in an equation-based, acausal modeling environment

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-11-15) Brown, Jason

The practice of building simulation is split between domains such as energy, multizone airflow, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) airflow, and controls analysis, as well as between the tools which conduct these analyses. Previous work in the integration of these analyses and tools have focused on linking existing tools, written in algorithmic programming languages, together by interfacing them using coupling mechanisms implemented in algorithmic programming languages. This thesis takes a different approach, using the equation-based, object oriented modeling language Modelica to create models in different domains and interfaces between those models within a single framework which has benefits to the modeler/analyst in terms of both representation of physical processes and flexibility in modeling systems composed of many interacting components. Specifically, the simulation of airflows within buildings has historically been compartmentalized into distinct domains such as nodal network (multizone) simulations and CFD. Such airflow simulations are also often treated independently of building energy simulations (via heat transfer) despite their interrelation. Recent work has reported on combining these types of analyses by linking pre-existing simulation software together. Here a prototype CFD package of models is built in Modelica and coupled to models of conductive heat transfer and controls. Comparisons of results of simulations so constituted to analytical solutions and benchmark data available in the literature show good agreement, indicating the technical viability of this approach. Limitations include the absence of turbulence modeling and the lack of modeling features which improve computational efficiency, such as non-uniform grids.
Walking to the station: the effects of street connectivity on walkability and access to transit

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-09-09) Ozbil, Ayse N.

The aim of this thesis is to help understand the impact of street network configuration on travel behavior by modeling pedestrian travel to/from rapid transit rail stations. The primary goal is to determine whether and to what extent street connectivity is related to transit walk-mode shares and walking distances after controlling for population density, land-use mix, household income, and car ownership. The data are drawn from all the stations of Atlanta's rapid transit network (MARTA). The research shows that land-use mix and street connectivity around stations are significantly related to the decision to walk for transit. Importantly, the analysis reveals that station environments with higher street densities and more direct connections within 1, 0.5, and 0.25 mile radii are associated with higher proportion of walking shares among station patrons. Furthermore, the results of analyses for walk trip distances suggest that street networks with denser intersections and more linear alignments of road segments support greater walking distance thresholds. Overall, the findings confirm the hypotheses that well structured and differentiated street networks affect not only transit access/egress walk-mode shares but also the distance people are willing to walk to/from a station. Thus, this study provides some encouragement that effective policies designed to encourage new designs with the option to walk will actually support more sustainable cities in which transit systems can become integrated within urban culture.
3D mental visualization in architectural design

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-07-30) Yagmur-Kilimci, Elif Sezen

Many architects report about mentally visualizing 3D aspects of their design ideas while simply working with 2D sketches of them. Indeed, in architecture, the general practice of conveying 3D building information by means of 2D drawings bears on the assumptions that every architect can mentally visualize a building in 3D by looking at its 2D drawings or sketches and that architects, as many report, can capture the 3D aspects of a building design during such 3D mental visualization practices. Additionally, many intuitively believe that the levels at which architects perform such 3D mental visualization practices is highly correlated to their spatial visualization abilities as defined by existing measures of spatial visualization ability. This thesis presents the outcomes of protocol studies and analyses that were conducted with the aim of developing an in-depth understanding about such 3D mental visualization practices and capabilities of architects on the basis of four research questions. First, what might be the nature of the 3D mental visualization phenomena that architects claim to experience: what are the features of these 3D mental visualizations as evidenced in specific tasks; and what might be the nature of the mental representations created during these visualization processes? Second, can every architect carry out these 3D mental visualization practices; might there be individual differences among architects' performances? Third, might 3D mental visualization of buildings be only an architectural skill; can non-architects, who can read 2D architectural drawings, visualize a building in 3D based on its 2D drawings and can they do so to the same levels of performance of those of architects? Fourth, might performance in 3D mental visualization tasks be related to/predicted by spatial visualization ability? The major conclusions of this thesis with regard to the first research question include that (1) architects can be visualizing the buildings in one of the two major forms or by alternatively switching between them: by imagining themselves situated within (almost) the actual size 3D building environment or by imagining a 3D small scale model of the building; (2) the mental representations they create during these visualization processes capture the various visual and spatial aspects of the buildings with a structure similar to that of an actual size or small scale model of the visualized space/form, yet the way they capture these aspects is not like the way these aspects would be captured from a certain viewpoint in reality; and (3) what they experience during these visualization processes is not like the continuous holistic visuospatial experience that one would have when looking at a building or walking inside/around a building. With regard to the second, third and fourth research questions this thesis concludes that (question 2) architects differ in their 3D mental visualization skills; (question 3) 3D mental visualization is an architectural skill in that it relies on certain abilities that become heightened in architects, possibly during education; and (question 4) 3D mental visualization skills are not related to spatial visualization ability as defined by the standard paper-folding test of spatial visualization ability.
Living outside the box: sustaining the lifelong community through universal design

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-07-08) Ricks, Joi Elizabeth

We all want to live in a healthy community. Each of us has his or her own image of what such a community should look like. That image is shaped, in part, by our reaction to the communities in which we now live or used to live. However we often take for granted the elements of communities that enable and sometimes disable many of us to remain active in a community for a lifetime. For older residents, a lifelong community would include elements that help them to maintain independence and quality of life. The physical characteristics of a community often play a major role in facilitating our personal independence. In order to combat the growing challenges and health concerns facing the American lifestyle this research proposes a set of design guidelines that promote sustainable lifelong communities that are universally designed for people of all ages and levels of physical ability. The purpose of developing a set of universal design guidelines for lifelong communities is to alleviate many of the physical barriers and challenges that prevent some Americans from active involvement in the community. The methods employed to develop these guidelines were based on literature review and analysis. This research was incorporated into a new body of practical standards that was tested against a real life community in Decatur, Georgia. These standards were edited and revised to appropriately accommodate the necessary adaptations that were discovered during the evaluation phase. The resultant guidelines are presented with the intention of becoming a usable guide for planning agencies such as the Atlanta Regional Commission and other local and national community design facilitators.
Automated checking of building requirements on circulation over a range of design phases

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-07-07) Lee, Jae Min

This study focuses on the development of a new, formal method for the automated checking of pedestrian circulation rules in Courthouse Design Guide. Automated building rule checking is an automated process of design evaluation against design requirements. Since the early 1970's, when the electronic representation of building design became available, automated building rule checking, a computational process, has been a focus of study, and it continues to be a popular research area because it facilitates the design evaluation process by reducing the checking time and evaluation costs and by increasing the objectivity and the reliability of the evaluation. Thanks to the emergence of BIM (Building Information Model) authoring software, BIM became available to use in real building design, and several automated building code checking systems were developed based on BIM. In practice, the use of a rule checking system in real design evaluation may be influenced by several factors. Among the factors that affect the accuracy and the reliability of automated checking such as checking algorithms and rule interpretation is the level of completeness of the BIM in the design process, which can cause limitations in the application of a rule checking algorithm to the model. Problems caused by the incompleteness of the BIM occurred in CORENET project, a project initiated by the Singapore government in 1999 for automation of building code checking, and GSA Courthouse Design Guide Automation project (GSA), initiated at Georgia Tech in 2007 also faced with the same problems caused by incompleteness of BIM in the development stage. This thesis is a continuing research of GSA-Courthouse Design Guide Automation project (Simply, GSA project). The theoretical goals of this study are to provide a logical foundation upon which one can build an automated checking module for circulation rule checking and that is capable of outlining the rule-validation process independently from its diverse implementation. The theory for circulation rule checking is devised to represent the process of the validation of a building design in the development stage. The theory deals with issues of validation caused by the lack of data in the development of a building design.
Use of hybrid ventilation techniques for improved energy efficiency of fan systems

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-04-08) Clark, Craig

The goal of this thesis was to improve the energy efficiency of building ventilation systems by exploring new methods of applying natural ventilation concepts. Strictly natural systems have limitations in which climates they can function or can provide optimal performance; these limitations lead to the use of mechanical or hybrid ventilation. This study looked at methods of combining the operation of the systems, such that the natural components improve the efficiency of the mechanical system.
Tectonic memoirs: the epistemological parameters of tectonic theories of architecture

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-04-06) Rizzuto, Anthony P.

The purpose of architectural theory is to provide a paradigm, or episteme, from which one can address contemporary design issues within the broader cultural context. It comprises any written system of architecture and may be either partial or comprehensive, but it must encompass a framework of cognitive categories that inevitably provide criteria for judgment. If not explicitly stated, it nevertheless implies an epistemology, a substructure for architectural knowledge. Previous studies of tectonics have tended to treat it as an autonomous architectural discourse, focusing on an individual writer and theory, or on a thematic concern such as the relationship between ontology and representation. This study approaches tectonics differently, relating it to the broader shifts within the discourses of architecture and philosophy, thereby sanctioning a more synergistic, as opposed to autonomous, examination. In exploring the epistemological parameters of tectonics theories in the West it isolates three major periods in its development: Classical Tectonics- derived from ancient philosophy, Rational Tectonics- emerging from the epistemology of science and Poetic Tectonics- developed out of concerns raised by the German Counter- Enlightenment and the Romantic Movement. At each stage in its development tectonics has served to provide key principles that collectively constitute its ground. The study reveals that Poetic Tectonics was a reaction against the duality of mind and abstract rationalism- so central to Cartesian thought and the epistemology of science- and its impact on architectural thought. In response Poetic Tectonics while accepting the key principles of Rational Tectonics sought to redirect it along the philosophical lines of the 2 German Enlightenment and Romanticism while also re-presencing the ethical substructure of Classical Tectonics. This study recognizes that through the course of time, the epistemology upon which cultures are formed have and will continue to change and as they do new tectonic theories will need to be negotiated; rendering tectonics in a continual state of 'becoming'. If there is to be a conclusion it lies in the fact that in its historical persistence and continuity tectonics represents a tradition within Western architecture on par with the likes of the Vitruvian, Organic and Functionalist.
Modernity in architecture in relation to context

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-04-05) Setiawan, Arief B.

The thesis questions the ways in which architecture might embody the notion of modernity in different cultures and regions yet achieve appropriateness relative to place. In the early twentieth century in the industrialized world, the issue of modernity in architecture was identified with the notions of abstraction and rationalization that colored the development of the modern movement. The second generation of the modern movement queried the roles of human experiences and urban and architectural contexts in architectural design. With the spread of the modern movement to the rest of the world, the issue of context in architecture grew stronger. Following this line of thought, this dissertation examines the tension between modernist abstractionism and urban and architectural contexts in place in which the presence and the role of local knowledge and traditions in architecture remained influential. It investigates modernity in architecture through a specific Asian reading and through an analysis of the work of Geoffrey Bawa of Sri Lanka. Selected works of Geoffrey Bawa are chosen because the significance of his oeuvre is often contested by interpreters who see it as reflecting various contemporary approaches, including regionalism and vernacularism. Thus, in an effort to refute such simplistic explanations of his work, this thesis examines selected works of Bawa, analyzing their spatial organization, formal arrangement, materials, techniques, and building details. In particular, it attempts to highlight the ways in which Bawa articulated the notions of experience and memory in his architecture. These analyses are then placed within the framework of the social and cultural situations that his architecture confronted in Sri Lanka. It is within this framework that we might determine the ways in which modernity and locality were embodied in Bawa's work. Interpretations of his work take into account the understanding of modernity as a cultural practice and an attitude. Modernity as an attitude relates to a specific modernist subject who is able to use reason for judgment in addressing context. In this dissertation, a reading on the work of Walter Benjamin on modernity, the pasts, and traditions frames this understanding of this modernist subjectivity. In architecture, modernity as an attitude means that is not a style but a way of thinking and formulating design intent. This inquiry is then used as a framework within which this dissertation will interpret the relationship between modernity and local identity. The conclusions of the dissertation contribute to an understanding of the achievement of modernity in architecture in tight relationship to context. On a more focused level, it also hopes to contribute to an appreciation of the extant works of Geoffrey Bawa, which the author of this dissertation deems exemplary of what modern architecture might achieve in Asia.
Language spoken around the world: lessons from Le Corbusier

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-01-22) Masud, Rabia

Le Corbusier's method of creating Architecture in all regions of the world is endlessly rich in techniques. While it is impossible to exactly know his thoughts as he created his modern compositions that skillfully addressed contextual cues, I present a thesis of how Corbusier approached different sites and masterfully created residences that were places "where happiness is born". I will use Shape Grammars and formulate my own languages that will recreate Corbusier's two Monol houses: Maison Jaoul in Paris and Sarabhai Villa in Ahmedabad. Furthermore, I will expand on these houses by creating other iterations, and transforming the grammars to understand critical major and minor moves. In the end I hope to derive architectural lessons that come from formal exercises that can be used in future design processes. I explore this practical effort by creating designs for a site in Midtown, Atlanta. I compare the process of using Shape Grammars with that of the typical studio approach. In conclusion, I find that Shape Grammars allows one to produce iterations that connect to the lessons of the original houses in an intuitive manner.