Two primary ideas drove the design of this church, sited at a Christian camping and retreat center in southwest Pennsylvania. The control of light entering the building is realized through a double layer of screens which form the exterior walls of the building and the walls of the sanctuary inside. These screens are the result of rigorous experimentation to maximize daylight and reduce glare in the space. The second main idea centers around the treatment of the overhead plane. Unified as a screen, curvilinear sheets of fabric are lit by openings in the roof to create sinuous bands of light that define the overhead plane and draw the eye upward. The primary design of these curves continue to define smaller elements in the church. As a secondary concern, the site links the church to the camp proper. A curving approach dips into the earth to obscure views of the church just until the visitor approaches the final court that leads to the building entrance. It is only when the person enters the sanctuary do they realize how the exterior and interior screens control the sunlight to illuminate a worship space that is flexible enough to both meet the needs of the camp and allow for future evolution of the liturgy. / Master of Architecture

This thesis began with an interest in apartment housing typology. I am familiar with this typology, yet it remains mysterious. The topic was never touched on in five years of architectural education or the time spent working in firms. I felt the need to study this typology. It is through the repetition of working with the realization that the hand and mind are one; I understand what I am working toward and the hand informs the mind of what it is doing. The notion of centralization, transparency, spatial ambiguity, symmetry, dematerialization, are used as a method to organize space and architectural elements. Spatial orders and conditions are examined through the use of idealized color. This work is the result of a year long study of the above architectural vocabulary. It is my hope that through this study, I can begin to establish a point of view. This thesis is a cross section of a thought. / Master of Architecture

The architectural opportunity to develop the sound and light lock of a performance venue as a space that engages and prepares the audience for a performance is one that is sadly missing from most halls. I have explored the development of this threshold as a true architectural space, one that enhances the overall experience for the audience members. And by introducing a parametric process into the architectural and acoustic development, have proposed a unique process for the design of concert halls. From physical model building to analysis by computer simulation, digital technology has undoubtedly advanced the realm of acoustic prediction. But common computer prediction programs that exist today are still essentially digitized applications of the analog model building process. Being: construct a model, analyze, make adjustments and repeat until the desired results are achieved. By implementing a parametric approach to model building it allows for design changes and the significance of those changes to be recognized in real time, an invaluable tool in the development of a sound-sensitive space. Utilizing the 3D software Rhinoceros and its scripting plug-in Grasshopper, it becomes possible to easily visualize crucial first-order reflections relative to surfaces that can be controlled and manipulated in very precise ways. This software is becoming more popular amongst architects and designers, and the prediction process will be an extension of this software into the field of acoustics. By using software already in the design vernacular, there is a seamless transition between design and analysis, making for a more cohesive project / Master of Architecture

This is a study of patterning and the connection between the proportions created and destroyed through this process. The analytical study of a pure geometry creates spaces and forms at every scale and in every orientation. These patterns can be layed out in modular panels, whether rotated, overlayed, skewed, or mirrored, in order to create architectural design decisions in plan, section, or elevation. Since the proportions of the module grow exponentially, possibilities are endless in terms of project type and scale. Decisions are made at multiple scales, starting with the human and working up to the building scale, as well as the realm of possibilities that fall in between. The module is acting as a matrix which regulates the articulation every architectural element. It creates order and reason for decision making, whether it be the layout for a cityâ s master plan or a small home. Furthermore, it establishes regularity and control for the organization of spaces. The language of the modular system guides the design development through the grammar established in the particular modular panels. For example, human interactions, seating areas, pathways, and transition spaces naturally belong to certain areas based on the module. This way of working allows for simultaneous planning of the entire site while also organizing the practical and material complexities of the space. / Master of Architecture

This thesis is a series of projects that attempt to create a fully imagined and described world for a woodworker. Each project, titled A House and A Workshop, focuses on different ideas as the imagined world becomes clearer. A House and A Workshop 1.1 explores my own images of the two buildings and how that influences the world that I describe. It also focuses on how the building type can inform the physical shape of each. A House and A Workshop 1.2 begins to investigate the daily rituals and routines of the imagined inhabitant. The question is raised of how those things can and should influence the architecture. A House and A Workshop 1.3 explores the physical relationship of the two buildings and the movement that the relationship implies. The idea of a room within a room emerges as the imagined world of the woodworker comes into focus. A House and A Workshop 1.4 seeks to clarify the ideas that I had been working with during the year by describing a more idealized world than the other versions. The value of making things and choosing to live that kind of life is an important aspect of this project. Finally, there is a project titled, A Chair, that lies outside the series of houses and workshops. Itâ s a demonstration rather than a description of the ideas that were explored during the thesis year. / Master of Architecture

This is a long building comprised of a series of five rooms set in a field and open to the sky and the surrounding landscape in varying degrees. It is a building that makes a place that encourages manâ s contemplation of the world and the role he and his works play within it. I believe there is no one correct reading of, or meaning to, the work, just as there is no one correct answer to such a broad and complex issue on which individual perspectives can often be very personal and given to unanticipated changes. After all, the world is a very fluid place and the ambiguities of meaning are many. Because of this complexity as well as my own personal desire to make work that can support a number of different readings, the elements of the building have been abstracted to their essential characteristics and identities in order to free up their symbolic potentials. The architectural elements are open vessel into which one can pour their own thoughts and feelings and questions on the matter. I have done my best to communicate my own thoughts on the work, as both they and it stand now, in the text to follow. / Master of Architecture

In Iztapalapa, south of the Yuhualixqui volcano, lies an informal settlement of an estimated 2600 people. Informal settlements have with them the connotation of quick, temporary, unthoughful architecture that dissolves with the first pass of rain. In reality, most of the informal settlements that appear become permanent homes for those families. A community emerges through the rough architecture and the need for the basic necessities becomes a daily struggle. Religious faith is something that remains strong in slum communities, although water, the most essential element is missing. I attempt to address both the religious faith of the community and their need for water by providing a place where the most sacred and the profane meet. / Master of Architecture

Performance architecture is not just an empty tagline, but the description of a full-bodied design solution through the relationship shared by form and function. Form is the source that provides an impression - of the space, of the performance, or of the experience. Function is the resource - for the space that becomes a classroom, an office, a conference room, a practice room or studio, and the performance hall. This thesis is a Center for the Performing Arts, and as a building that provides for a variety of needs, it responds by embodying a diverse range of design solutions for each space within. / Master of Architecture

This thesis is a series of experiments performed on how ribbon-like bands of material can be folded to generate special volumes that can accommodate the functional aspects of a building program. / Master of Architecture

This study intends to investigate the influence of age, education, gender, degree of religiosity, income, type of residence, interest in public affairs, social and political trust, and employment status on attitudes toward and interpretations of democracy among 1200 Egyptians living in urban and rural areas who participated in Afrobarometer survey in 2013. The author uses principle component and regression analyses to test hypotheses about the state of political culture in Egypt after the Arab Spring of 2011 and before the military coup. The variables age, gender, employment status, residence type, and social trust have not been found significant in any of the observed models. Higher income individuals, compared to those with lower incomes valued democratic principles less - instead preferring unlimited control by one party or President - and were more likely to access the term democracy negatively. More educated citizens tend to positively evaluate occupational gender and rejection of one party-one man rule, while less educated prefer material rights over free and fair elections and freedom of speech. Religious citizens tend to show more support for lawful actions imposed by executive governmental bodies on ordinary citizens than less religious people. Higher levels of political trust is positively associated with attitudes toward the term democracy and one-party and one-man rule. Finally, people interested in public affairs vs. those who are not interested tend to possess negative attitudes toward the term democracy. / Master of Science