Thesis (M. L. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes special report study entitled: Portable landscape elements. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M. L. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes special report study entitled: 'When nature exploits man-made structures ... ' : a detailed study of wall trees in Hong Kong. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

The American City is layered in differences. Over time the city has been shaped and reshaped by different cultures and identities in the urban landscape. However, difference is still consistently otherized, and ethnicity becomes excluded by society as this other. In 2010, the Latino population increased from 13 percent in 2000 to 16 percent of the total population, or 51 million people. And yet, Latinos are still particularly otherized in cities like New Orleans, where the demographics have been shifting since Katrina and the Latino population has more than doubled in size. Despite the city’s rich history of Latin American culture, the population’s identity is still ambiguous and mainly invisible to society at large. On a national level, Latinos use the everyday in urban life as an arena of resistance and cultural meaning. Neighborhoods evolve over time based on hybridity, juxtaposition and improvisation; this temporal condition is visible within a 24-hour cycle in Hispanic everyday life, where place is altered across different hours of the day, and along different paths. Utilizing this transitional element of Latino Urbanism and the emphasis on provisional social space existing along lines of difference, the project redefines building typologies to anticipate and support the growing ethnic identity. In New Orleans, the Latino community has specific economic, social and cultural needs, which the city is currently lacking, thus the project seeks to address these absences through the placemaking strategy of layered exchanges and interwoven paths, in which the tectonics of space respond to these paths, and a visual, as well as a physical, exchange occurs between, city and others. / 0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

The Periscope and the Labyrinth is an investigation into cultural identity, consciousness and landscape rooted in the body’s experience of the city. The modern phenomenon of flânerie is used as a means of examining vari- ous sites of particular interest to queer mythology within New York and Rome via the device of personal ‘derives’ or drifts inspired by a legacy of city writing, whereby the particular relationship between identity, place and space becomes clear. The flâneur has been essential to previous writings on the topic of ‘queer space’ in that he is one who ‘relies on the ambiguities of the modern city, and the uncertainties that linger in the fleeting experi- ence of a backward glance.’ It is these very ambiguities that associate the flâneur as the quintessential ‘cruiser.’ Yet the potential of the flâneur lies in his ‘alchemical’ abilities. A contemporary interpretation of alchemy is used through out the thesis as both a psychological method for understand- ing the ‘union of opposites’, as well as a reading of the parallels between individual and collective identity as they relate to particular sites. These archetypal opposites are typified by the Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus; the duality of their characteristics exemplified by the metaphor of the title in which the conscience of the ‘Apollonian eye’ of the flâneur within the labyrinth of the Dionysian underworld’ describing the alchemical teachings which underpin this work.

The Periscope and the Labyrinth is an investigation into cultural identity, consciousness and landscape rooted in the body’s experience of the city. The modern phenomenon of flânerie is used as a means of examining vari- ous sites of particular interest to queer mythology within New York and Rome via the device of personal ‘derives’ or drifts inspired by a legacy of city writing, whereby the particular relationship between identity, place and space becomes clear. The flâneur has been essential to previous writings on the topic of ‘queer space’ in that he is one who ‘relies on the ambiguities of the modern city, and the uncertainties that linger in the fleeting experi- ence of a backward glance.’ It is these very ambiguities that associate the flâneur as the quintessential ‘cruiser.’ Yet the potential of the flâneur lies in his ‘alchemical’ abilities. A contemporary interpretation of alchemy is used through out the thesis as both a psychological method for understand- ing the ‘union of opposites’, as well as a reading of the parallels between individual and collective identity as they relate to particular sites. These archetypal opposites are typified by the Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus; the duality of their characteristics exemplified by the metaphor of the title in which the conscience of the ‘Apollonian eye’ of the flâneur within the labyrinth of the Dionysian underworld’ describing the alchemical teachings which underpin this work.

Thesis (M Arch)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2009. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Mike Everts. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-73).

Thesis (M.L.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes special report study entitled: Psychological effects on outdoor exhibition.

Thesis (M.L.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes special report study entitled: Stress relief elements for urban workers.

Thesis (M.L.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes special report study entitled: Lighting condition and human ergonomics for outdoor reading environment.

La « défonctionnalisation » d’une architecture transforme intégralement la lecture de l’objet: les traces d’usure ont une charge symbolique et expressive qui en modifient sa réception. Les «ruines modernes» renvoient à une obsolescence précoce qui caractérise une époque dans laquelle l’industrialisation des procédés de construction incite au remplacement de l’ancien par le nouveau et multiplie les destructions. Elles sont étroitement liées au progrès et à l’accélération du renouvellement des constructions urbaines. Les architectures des grands ensembles sont les derniers symboles de l’ère moderne menacés par la destruction ; elles intriguent et fascinent par leur fragilité et leur monumentalité. La photographie artistique peut-elle proposer une contribution critique qui invite à porter un autre regard tout en cherchant à susciter un questionnement sur les ruines comme composantes du paysage urbain actuel ? Il semble que la reconsidération des ruines par la création est possible. L’objet de recherche de cette thèse n’est pas la ruine en elle-même, mais ses représentations par la photographie. Il ne s’agit pas de proposer une méthodologie, ni un guide pour photographier les ruines, mais de présenter les questionnements émergeant de pratiques photographiques des espaces en déshérence, en tant qu’expériences spatiales, culturelles et sensibles. / The « Defunctionalization » of architecture completely transforms the reading of the object : traces of erosion have a symbolic and expressive charge that modifies its interpretation. «Modern ruins» refer to early obsolescence, characteristic of the industrialization of building process which encourages the substitution of old things by new ones and increase destructions. They are closely linked to progress and the acceleration of urban renewal. Tower blocks of social housing appear to be the ultimate symbols of modern structures threatened by destruction; their monumentality and weakness intrigue and fascinate. How could artistic photography offer a critical contribution that changes the way we gaze at ruins as a component of actual urban landscape? It seems that reconsidering ruins through creation is possible. The subject matter of this thesis is not the ruin itself but its representations through photography. It’s not about proposing a methodology neither a guide to photograph ruins, but to present some questions that arises from photographic practices of derelict spaces as spatial, cultural and sensitive experiences.