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This thesis is an inquiry between music and architecture. The rational and emotional aspects of music are applied into architectural language. Rationally, the base for both music and architecture is mathematic, or proportions, which derives from the cosmic order, and gives the harmonic sense for the ears and the eyes. They are both carefully constructed on paper: scores and constructive drawings. Neither of them will make sense unless through experience, which will take to an emotional journey. The numbers for Pythagoras scale are the agreement of sounds that affects our ears with delight, the same that can please our eyes and our minds. Since harmonic ratios inherent in nature are revealed in music, the architect who relies on those harmonies makes use of a universal harmony apparent in music. Light moves within a space throughout time in a year, it can be considered as a time signature for the season and the day in architecture. The form and material change the quality of light. Light and shadow gives rhythm in a space. Music is close to heaven with eternity. In Japan, Mount Fuji is the highest mountain and people worship it as a symbol of immortality. Both of them have their trace connect to nature. The journey for this thesis is about exhibiting a series of woodblock prints called Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, using knowledge of proportions and light. By ordering the prints into a certain order, the exhibition eventually celebrates the Mount Fuji itself. / Master of Architecture / This thesis is an inquiry about music and architecture. The rational and emotional aspects of music are applied into architectural language. The rational common between music and architecture is mathematic. The harmonic scale in music is used as proportions in architecture. Light that moves within a space through time in a year can be considered as a time signature in music score. Light can also create rhythms. The emotional aspect comes when experiencing a journey. This thesis is about exhibiting a series of woodblock prints called Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, by using knowledge of proportions and light to create a journey.

Light is the most sacred phenomenon and the presence of it in a place of worship is the greatest manifestation of God himself. Man can manufacture all the building materials needed to errect the greatest of structures, but only God can fill it with the light of the sun and make the materials come alive. Through the interplay of light and structure the building can seem to be alive. Through the proper execution of structure and material the building can sculpt light and define the time of day and season of year. This then became the genesis of the project; to sculpt light through natural materials and structure in order to bring glory to the creator and provide a sacred retreat for the weary, a rich interplay of light and material coming together to create a worshipful experience. / Master of Architecture

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the energy consumption for lighting is estimated to be about 22% of the total electricity generated in the U.S for the year 2001. With the very poor conversion of electrical energy to visible radiation there is an immediate need to adopt new and efficient lighting solutions. Virginia Tech with its own commitment to reduce energy consumption is continuously looking and experimenting with the latest and most efficient lighting solutions for the interiors and exteriors of buildings on its campus. This study seeks to evaluate the performance of selected exterior and interior lighting solutions through experimental and simulation means. A proposed exterior lighting solution, for the "Hokie" light, the most common outdoor lamp fixture on campus, was monitored and evaluated under control settings in the Environmental Systems Laboratory at Virginia Tech. Options for improving the performance of the Hokie light and reducing the uplight were experimentally tested and analyzed. Use of a non-perforated aluminum LiteLid® was selected as the most promising and cost effective solution after analyzing the performance of a variety of options. For general interior lighting, the feasibility of using advanced lighting methods such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) was explored and analyzed. The performance of LEDs was experimentally compared with the existing fluorescent lamps. Performances of the fluorescent and LED lamps were analyzed for selected parameters such as the quality, color and quantity of the light. The annual energy consumption and utility cost of a representative building on the Virginia Tech campus with existing fluorescent lamps and the proposed LED lamps was estimated using E-Quest simulation software. The building chosen for this purpose was the newly constructed Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS). Low lumen output of the LED lamps and burnout due to heat dissipation and poor color rendition index (CRI) of the LED lamps makes them unviable for interior applications at this time. / Master of Science

The problem was to study the behavior of several hydrocarbons when they were subjected to ultraviolet light of 2536 Å in the presence of mercury vapor.

Can a hospital be more than a center for treatment? Can it initiate a sense of healing in the individual as well as the community? The hospital in its early form was a facility meant to house the sick in ancient Egyptian temples. Prayers, sacrifices and dream interpretations were used in the healing process as well as quintessential medical procedures such as opium for pain and stitching of wounds. Monasteries were later established to accommodate travelers, the indigent and the sick. Hospitals were constructed next to Religious institutions but also utilized house calls for the wealthy class. Monasteries were also organized in cloisters which were places of retreats from the mundane. The idea of hospitals today is to diagnose, treat and heal patients which has proven to be effective with most diseases being prevented and eradicated entirely from our day to day lives. However, these conditions aren't as similar in Malawi. The origin of the word hospital is derived from the Latin word "hospitalia" meaning a place of refuge for guests and strangers. The need for effectively functioning hospital in Malawi is apparent, but the need to create a hospital that heals and creates a sense of community and tranquility for both the guest and wondering traveler is paramount. / Master of Architecture / Explorations of the thesis included delving into what it means to live in a communal village to designing a healing hospital from the outside inward to inform the design to it's fruition. Research entailed looking at perspectives of rural living in Malawi and reflecting those elements in the built environment to create a hospital with gardens of healing and roofs that reflect rural architecture and natural materials. Research began with exploring the cultural influences of community and expressing it through graphic representation and data analysis which informed the location of the site in Blantyre, Malawi. The idea of creating a hospital that can heal through gardens of community or "Khonde" that are synonymous with the people of Malawi. The concept of the hospital is based on the organization of a rural village composed of a center point at the driveway entrance which unfurls out to allow for possible future expansion of the campus. The curvature of the maternity breaks the linear organization to help guide the gardens and circulation of pedestrian paths and patients to and from the hospital departments whilst keeping a certain amount of public access and private ownership.

This thesis explores the corridor as an essential architectural element in an apartment building. By differentiating the conventional linear corridor, a more pleasant corridor could be achieved: corridor with various widths and natural lighting through architecture manipulation. The building's locale contributes to another topic of this thesis, the urban form for a downtown apartment building. The identities of three streets surrounding the site are respectively unique. One is a downtown pedestrian sidewalk with storefronts, one is a quiet one-way back road, and the other is a major highway with heavy traffic. Examining these three urban conditions, the possible relationship between the streets and the apartment building is explored. For apartment residents, the street conditions and the corridors constitute the very transitional experience for him or her to enter a home. / Master of Architecture

Through an exploration of media and technique, this project sought to represent pregnant silence and portentous darkness within architecture: ephemeral effect drawn in stasis. A sequence of three rooms - formed constructively, but intuited through tone - imagine interior worlds in which the stage is perpetually set, but the performance itself never begins. / Master of Architecture / Through an exploration of media and technique, this project sought to represent pregnant silence and portentous darkness within architecture: ephemeral effect drawn in stasis. A sequence of three rooms - formed constructively, but intuited through tone - imagine interior worlds in which the stage is perpetually set, but the performance itself never begins.

This thesis aims to explore architectural experience by addressing how different types of openings exert an impact to the space. The openings not only play a critical role in giving a palpable presence to natural light in a space, but also facilitate a specific way of seeing the world – together generating a spiritual resonance through a sequence of well-designed spaces. The journey happens in a four-story tower, which is influenced by four parts of a tree, providing a space to experience tranquility removed from a chaotic world and to gain a deeper understanding of the trees. With an emphasis on the manipulation of natural light and views, certain kinds of atmospheres are created on each floor to shape the perception of space. / Master of Architecture