The existential significance of buildings is considered with the aim of discovering an ahistorical paradigm for architecture based on the assumption of an ultimate or primary reality which is innate and unchanging. Particular attention is paid to the cosmogonic functioning of buildings through their role as places. Two aspects of the concept of place are considered: that of an inhabited realm which is set apart within undifferentiated space; and, that of an axis mundi about which a habitable world may become ordered. A vocabulary of architectural elements consisting of a chimney, plynth, wall, and roof is then used to pursue these ideas within a design project. / Master of Architecture

This thesis participates in the architectural construct of INSIDE and OUTSIDE. By means of a house with many rooms, the extremes of an inner, personal architecture contrast the extremes of an outer, public architecture. Each room is an inner architecture of closure and definition. While an outer architecture of openness and expanse surrounds them. One room is a bathroom of concentric cylinders. Another is a rectangular box with an upstairs bed, while another is a large cube with a smaller cube for a bed. Each room presents an inner architecture of almost crystalline purity. And each closes themself off from the others. Despite their particularity, these rooms gather, while black and white steel panels unite and define the outer architecture of house, barely. A ring of stairways angles across the steel matrix on its way to a rooftop patio, allowing the surrounding forest to creep in. The outer architecture of house begins to dissolve into the forest, leaving only the inner architecture of room in tact. Only the closed, inner architecture, so personal that we do not share, resists the diffusion. Only the inner architecture of identity maintains its integrity. Only an inner architecture can contrast the outer architecture. The lines drawn between an inner and outer architecture parallels those between public / private and individual / community. This thesis project draws the line between room and house, choosing to allow house to dissolve into the outer architecture of the surrounding forest while room assumes the role of an inner architecture. One conclusion of this thesis is that house deserves closure as well. Architecture is responsible for both the inner and outer extremes of the inhabited world. The inner architecture demands closure and definition. The outer architecture demands openness and expanse. / Master of Architecture

Master of Architecture

Master of Architecture

Architecture is an expression of existence; it is the realization of a sense of place, a manifestation of a way-of-being in the world through built elements. "I want to see things. I want to see, therefore I draw. I can see an image only if I draw it." - Carlo Scarpa Carlo Scarpa expressed that he wanted to see, therefore he would draw, and draw incessantly. In that spirit, this thesis has been a search for what is authentic in my own work, based in a discovery through making. The way of making indicates a way of seeing a world; the drawings and the way of drawing directly impact my thoughts. The drawings tend to be fragmentary, indicative of an architecture of parts. The focus is on "the way to be" of the individual, and the way that individual is to the whole. These relationships inform a sense of order and direct the parts towards a greater whole. Those issues are explored in the making of a small house; it is one step toward a greater understanding. / Master of Architecture

This house is not in Ticino. It is somewhere between earth and sky, in the country, or in the city, passing the suburbs altogether at a speed of 45 mph. This house does not have a television set, hence the dweller never sees the architect portrayed in deodorant commercials, soap operas, nor shoe advertisements. / Master of Architecture

For all those sports enthusiasts within the Blacksburg area; for all members of the student body interested in intercollegiate, intramural, or individual sports competition; for all members of the administration interested in school prestige; and for all members of the athletic plant staff; a new building to house intercollegiate sports activities is a very vital and realistic problem - vital because of the present inadequacy and inflexibility of the War Memorial Hall, and realistic because of actual plans now in progress to expand the athletic facilities of Virginia Polytechnic Institute. This thesis deals with the design of a building that will meet the needs of adequacy and flexibility. / Master of Science

This thesis presents a place for the individual within the contemporary city: Eight houses in a row that restore the solid perimeter blocks of the city while preserving the individual’s interior freedom and inalienable solitude. / Master of Architecture

The house is a place to be quiet and alone; to be still and to rest. The task of the architect is to make the house that provides the possibility of this solitude. / Master of Architecture

As members of a collective whole, each of us, as a necessary event, must interact with others for our livelihood as well as the prosperity of society as a whole. However, just as we are part of a collective whole, we are also solitary individuals. As such, we need places which do not express community values, but rather, affirm our own identity and offer security and separation from the public realm. This thesis explores the historical precedents and generative principles for achieving refuge by varying the architectural character of spaces along a processional path to generate a subtle progression from the public to private domains. Following this, a design for a residence is presented which explores the potentials of the principles discovered. / Master of Architecture