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Winston Churchill said "We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us." And this holds true for our cities as well. The intent of this thesis is to develop an understanding of the origins of the city, historic theories of planning, Utopian proposals, the current state of the city, and what the future the city may hold. The City of Aetheria is a world created via poetic imagination, the sublime product of mental activity; as a study intent is to discover the fundamental principles of the city, making explicit the nature and significance of fundamental concepts of urban design theories and utopian ideals while demonstrating the elements of urban form and the effects of urban process through history. Incorporating historical archetypes and typologies of architectural form; the design of the City of Aetheria was an investigational tool to study the Image, Form and Elements of the city. / Master of Architecture

As city dwellers, we are students of our environment, continuously learning how to interact with and contribute to the urban realm and to the world at large. This thesis explores how a school can expand the culture of a neighborhood, how a neigborhood can shape the identity of a city, and how a city can cultivate the growth of a person. The project consists of a master plan for a community college, mixed-use neighborhood, traffic circle, and streetcar station. Within the larger plan sits a Library and Student Center, which emerges as the iconic piece of architecture for the school and the neighborhood. / Master of Architecture

In today's society urban liveliness has moved from the center of city to its periphery in a diluted manner. There exists the continuation of monotonous cityscape as by-product and leftover of architecture and urbanism. Herein lies the question: how to build a meaningful 'place' in a site where the sense of place is lost. This book is a record of the challenge in my belief that architecture is generous spatial entity which has both elaborated condition and quality orchestrated by the relationship to its site, structure, and material to enhance the quality of life through the human senses. / Master of Architecture

This paper identifies a range of elements and principles useful for the development of an urban theoretical architecture. Acceptance of nature as a design element and in particular the use of nature to bound nodes of high density development are explored. The use of fractal geometry to distribute the urban footprint upon the landscape is introduced along with a tacit development of methodology making the application of fractal geometry useful. Building height restrictions are suggested as usefull to create urban walls and maintain views for tall buildings. It is proposed that the basic unit of urban design and development is a high intensity urban cell. Elements crucial to the life of urban cells are identified. The importance of architectural character in developing the identity of urban space is reinforced and explored. / Master of Architecture

The city functions as an Urban Ecosystem. As buildings are primary components of this system, each structure must appropriate its environment for the Urban Ecosystem to thrive. Additionally, each building acts as an individual ecosystem. Each building consumes energy, produces waste, and serves as an environment for life to flourish. This project investigates the study of architecture based on principles of ecology. The building holds a market, culinary school, and restaurants; receiving,transforming, and distributing sustenance to the city's inhabitants while supporting the greater metropolitan area farmers. The building exhibits the ubiquity of nature in the city and helps to revitalize an unhealthy part of Washington, DC's Urban Ecosystem. / Master of Architecture

Towns contain spaces defined by human interaction with their surroundings. In any town, certain places seem inviting while others seem cold and unfriendly. This is the result of subtle design decisions that directly effect the character of a place. This investigation focuses on the interaction of architecture in our daily lives and how it affects us in ways that we often overlook. The life of a town is in its relationship between the architecture and the people which inhabit that architecture. / Master of Architecture

Oh, the good old metro stations! No matter how much we change, how much our society changes, they all look pretty much the same. We walk down the stairs, grab a coffee on the way, pass the gates, get to our platform and then we wait. But what if? What if it wasn’t like that? What if we could decide not to rush down to the platform, but instead enjoy the few minutes we have, before being drawn back to our daily life, in a nice, entertaining environment? A place for everyone to enjoy, not just those who own a metro card. After all, a station is still a public space, isn’t it?