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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of New South Wales, 2002. / Also available online.

What if you could spend an idea to earn money? Detected through an anthropological lens, rather than a strictly economical one; the context of this thesis inherits a feverishly fluctuating South African economy. It is pitted against often contradictory and interchanging consciousness of opportunity in the so-called formalised and informalised markets; and within the flaring gap that exists between the two. This gap finds spatiality in South African post-Apartheid cities, in which physical buffers to dense marginalised communities remain visible; as in the particular case of Johannesburg. Investigations into the spatial orders of postmodern ‘money institutions’ (including the bank, shopping mall and casino) show that the urban phenomena of emergent ‘money borders’ also echoes itself in its architecture. Through historical analysis, the capitalist construct displays itself increasingly as a closed protected entity. Underneath the exquisitely woven Persian rug of privatised space, trapdoors to dubious and illicit spots often exist, In this space, it is all smoke and mirrors. The rules can be broken for the desires of those inside, and keep out the supposed risks of those who are not. Its detachedness is reconstructed through the theoretical perspectives of Michel Foucault and Georg Simmel; this examination providing grasp for spatial tools which, if altered, could recalibrate the way in which privatised spaces open and close themselves to the public. How can a reassembly of spatial and psychological thresholds in financial institutions assist in making capital more accessible to the idea-bearer? The results of this research propose reworked syntax of physical legibilities which make entry, participation and exit in financial systems understandable and therefore more possible. An idea trading floor (idea bank) is designated as the principal programme; where the possibility of intersection of capital, presented by an investor meeting an innovator with an idea is available, in a stripped down form. Beginning with the shell of the capitalist epitome ‘free market’ stock trading floor, a new re-mastered hybrid is born. Usually fascinatingly chaotic, these spaces are viscerally experiential but also remain inaccessible to many parts of society. What if we could sell stocks for entrepreneurial ideas, in a physical, space-folded, compact trading floor, partly quotidian like that of a supermarket, and partly fantastical and alluring? Fertile ground for such a transaction point is identified at an intersection in Wynberg, Johannesburg; which currently lies suspended along a highly-trafficked pedestrian movement route between Alexandra and Sandton, and is earmarked for a future transport interchange. Space-folding techniques underline the conceptual arrangement of the architecture; with the superimposition of idea bank with micro-factories and gathering spaces. These programmes are vertically punctured by a circulation vein to the proposed bus terminal below the site, revealing the processes of seed capital generation for a passing commuter or visitor: In addition, through spatially centralising the idea; creativity and the possibility for change; rather than money as an end in itself; this thesis speculates cause-led spatial practice rather than a profit-led one. Ultimately, if capital has a wall around it (literally and fi guratively), perhaps architecture could put a door in it; in doing so making cognizant the presence of the wall; and therefore the possibly to transverse through it.

The research presented in this Thesis is primarily concerned with the field of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) - specifically, the business applications of the technology. The empirical problem addressed is the selection of branch banks as candidates for closure using the network of branch banks of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in the Sydney metropolitan region as the case study. Decisions to close branches are made by the Bank on the basis of performance indicators that are essentially financial. In this research, however, an alternative approach is adopted: the problem is addressed using a set of spatial criteria. Following the deregulation of the finance industry in the 1980's and the rapid introduction of new electronic channels for delivering financial services, the major banking institutions have been engaged in a process of reorganising their networks of branch banks. The most visible manifestation of this has been the ongoing and widespread closure of branches. Selecting branch banks for closure is a typical example of a complex semi-structured multi-dimensional, multi-criteria, decision-making problem. It has been well documented in previous research that Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) models are the most appropriate ones for solving problems in this particular domain. The identification of branches for closure is also characterised by a significant spatial dimension. Decisions are based on a consideration of a number of geographical criteria and various forms of spatial analysis may be involved. An appropriate technology to assist with solving decision-making problems with a significant spatial dimension is a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS). Most SDSS have been based on the integration of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology with analytical models that are proven to be best suited to specific decision-making problems and this is the approach adopted in this research. The prototype MCBC-SDSS (Multi-Criteria Branch Closure SDSS) developed here is based on the integration through the loose coupling of the ArcView GIS software with the Criterium DecisionPlus (CDP) software, which contains the suite of non-spatial analytical models that provide the analytical capability for solving multi-criteria problems. ArcView GIS is used as the engine that drives the system and to provide the analytical and display facilities to support the spatial data involved. Two MCDM models from the CDP software are used to support the decision-making analysis - the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique (SMART). The integration of GIS with the MCDM models is based on a considerable amount of software enhancement, interface development, and computer programming. The development of the integrated system is designed to create an intelligent and user-friendly SDSS, the application of which, from the user's perspective, is a seamless operation. The success of the MCBC-SDSS is demonstrated by its application to identify candidates for closure among the 197 branches of the CBA in the Sydney metropolitan area in 2000 - the year when the building of the database for the research had been completed. The analysis is based purely on spatial considerations that have been gleaned from a major review of the literature that previous researchers have identified as affecting branch viability and performance. A set of 17 spatial variables was used as the criteria in the MCDM models. The criteria are organised in two blocks: the first includes 9 criteria relating to the characteristics of demand for branch service in the branch trade areas ('catchment area' specific criteria) while the second includes 8 criteria relating to aspects of supply provided by the existing branches in their location ('location specific' criteria). Using the developed approach, the MCBC-SDSS has been used directly to compare alternatives against criteria, not only spatial based but also financial ones, thus providing a basis for identifying the best choices regarding branch closure. The steps in the preparation of the data and the iterative procedure for implementing the MCDM models are explained and illustrated. This involves building the initial evaluation matrix, normalising the raw criteria scores, assigning weights to the criteria, and calculating priorities. Based on these, the AHP and SMART models then calculate a decision score for each branch that is used as the basis for creating the preference ranking of the branches. In this, branches with a high rank score based on the combined weighted contribution of the 17 criteria are considered to be operationally viable. On the other hand, branches with the lowest rank scores are considered as potential candidates for closure. The preference rankings generated by the models have been tested to examine their robustness in terms of the validity of criteria and their weights used in the decision analysis. Sensitivity analysis has been conducted, the results of which show that the preference rankings are stable. Different approaches have been used to validate the initial criteria, and analyse their contribution to the ranking of branch banks for closure. These help identify critical spatial variables among the 17 initial criteria selected, and suggest that some of the criteria initially selected could be deleted from the criteria list used to generate the preference rankings without substantially affecting the results. The reasonableness of the resulting preference ranking has been further demonstrated from analyses based on changing criteria weights and alternatives. The research successfully demonstrates one of the ways of enhancing the functionality of a GIS through its integration with non-spatial analytical models to develop a SDSS to aid solving decision-making problems in the selected domain. Given that to date there has been relatively few applications of SDSS similar to that developed in this research to real world decision-making problems, the procedure adopted makes it suitable for decision-making in a range of other service business applications characterised by a significant spatial dimension and multiple outlets including shopping centres, motor car dealerships, restaurant and supermarket chains. Instead of just providing solutions, however, the SDSS-based analysis in this research can better be thought of as adding value to spatial data that forms an important source of information required by decision-makers, providing insight about the situation, uncertainty, objectives, and trade-offs involved in reaching decisions, and being capable of generating alternative scenarios based on different inputs to the models that may be used to identify recommended courses of action. It can lead to better and more effective decision-making in institutions involving multi-outlet retail and service businesses and hence enables both integrated data analysis and modelling while taking multiple criteria and decision-makers' preferences into consideration.

Previous research suggested that unlike marketing goods, marketing services required manipulating the physical environment as well as price, promotion, production, and place. This indicates a role for interior design in the marketing strategy of a service business. Research also indicated that little was known about the effect of the different environmental components, especially the color component on consumers' responses. Most color research in marketing is in advertising and packaging but most of it is proprietary and thus unpublished. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of color on subjects' evaluations of a bank and its employees. The choice of banks was motivated by the fact that banks have a high degree of familiarity among potential subjects. An experiment was designed in which subjects were provided with an illustration of a bank's interior and asked to evaluate the service quality at that bank. The illustrations were computer generated and were identical except for the color scheme. The study used monochromatic color schemes, manipulating the hue (warm and cool) at two value levels (dark and light), generating four treatments (light-warm, dark-warm, light-cool, and dark-cool). A convenience sample of 486 college students, in two lower division classes, was used. Subjects were each assigned a treatment at random, and asked to rate the banks and their employees on eight criteria: reliability, responsiveness, competence, courtesy, access, communication, security, and understanding. The treatments were in the form of 5 1/2 X 4 inch computer printouts attached to the last page of a questionnaire package. The experiment was conducted at the beginning of class time and subjects were given directions by the class instructors. The experiment took subjects an average time of five minutes to complete. The study investigated the effect of color on subjects' evaluations of the eight dependent measures in terms of three independent variables: value, hue, and subjects' gender. The data collected indicated that value had more effect on the dependent variables than did hue or subjects' gender. Banks with dark color schemes were thought to be more reliable, more competent, and safer. Banks with a light color scheme scored significantly better in terms of courtesy and communication, and scales relating to access. In terms of hue, warm color schemes had a higher mean score on courtesy, while the cool color schemes scored higher on competence. Warm hues were found to be more aesthetically pleasing and more familiar than the cool ones. Gender yielded an effect only on the responsiveness variable where mean scores of female subjects were higher than males' scores. Although the study had some limitations the results indicated that there is potential for using specific color choices in bank interiors to foster a desired image. Specifically value can be varied throughout a bank interior to communicate different messages to customers. Dark values could be applied in the teller area to project the impression of safety and privacy that customers need. In the loan department light values can be used to communicate consideration and accessibility. Findings from this study can be of use in other service oriented businesses with role demands similar to banks. / Graduation date: 2000

This thesis subjects the old Agricultural Bank Building in Mersin, which is one of the important traditional late 19th and early 20th century buildings of Mersin and which reflects important architectural features of that period. The main scope of this thesis is to prepare a conservation and restoration project for the &ldquo / Old Agricultural Bank Building&rdquo / which will pass the historical, architectural, cultural values of the building to the next generations. The study is composed of six subjects. In the introduction, short description of the building is given stating its significant architectural values. It is continued with the aim of the study, as well as the framework and methodology of the study. The second topic covers the documentation of the building and its nearby environment describing its present state together with the location of the building within Mersin and the general settlement characteristics of the nearby environment. The documentation continues with analysis of the building related to the building elements and materials / construction techniques / structural system / physical problems covering the material deteriorations and structural deformations / and finally evaluation of changes. The third subject comprises research related to the historical background of the building as well as the nearby environment within the historical development of Mersin. It is followed by the fourth topic, which covers comparative study of the physical and architectural features of the building with examples from bank and entrepot/depot buildings as well as other traditional buildings that belong to same period in Mersin. During the fifth subject, which is the restitution stage, evaluation related to the exploration of the previous states of the building is carried out. The study concludes with the last section, which covers the evaluation of collected information up to this phase stating the values, problems, potentials of the building. Finally, it is completed with proposal decisions related to the conservation and restoration of the building.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1984. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 626-650). Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of St Andrews, April 2007.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1984. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 626-650).

This dissertation explores debt as an instrument of control deployed by German private and state actors in the Ottoman Empire between the 1870s and 1919. The everyday functioning of empire relies on seemingly abstract and smooth financial transactions across vast territories. Studying these processes architecturally foregrounds the material reality of the “immaterial” system of modern finance, revealing the frictions it creates, and thereby centers how power is produced and subverted within and across imperial borders. Focusing largely on Deutsche Bank’s archives and related sources, “The Architecture of German Capitalist Imperialism” traces the movement of German capital into Ottoman territory. The corresponding material system—from financial office buildings in Constantinople to farms, factories and trading posts in the Ottoman region of Cilicia—served to enable Deutsche Bank, a private German bank with significant state support, to carry out its business in a foreign, non-colonized territory. In the Ottoman capital, the Deutsche Bank branch office and the headquarters of the Ottoman Public Debt Administration (OPDA, founded by international creditors following the Ottoman government’s 1875 declaration of bankruptcy) constituted the central structures of the debt system. Yet to increase agricultural tax revenue—thus helping to repay foreign debt and serving as collateral for new loans—the OPDA operationalized a system of resource extraction across a wide economic geography, reaching far into the Anatolian provinces. As a major creditor of the Ottoman government, Deutsche Bank was central to this OPDA project while also developing its own agricultural cotton program in the Anatolian countryside. What emerged, as this dissertation demonstrates, was a vast inter-imperial architectural network engendered by, and servicing, Ottoman debt. To understand how that debt operated on the ground, the study follows the flows of capital through the more informal spaces that mostly go unacknowledged in both architectural and economic history—such as a local banker’s private villa in Cilicia and warehouse facilities at Deutsche Bank’s cotton factory—and explores the land regime the Germans encountered in the Ottoman countryside. It shows that financial transactions required physical translation and transformation, which generated dependencies for Deutsche Bank from local actors, thus undermining the bank’s dominance particularly in the “hinterland” and slowing down the German Empire’s imperial push. By focusing on the multifaceted built environment of capitalist imperialism, this dissertation challenges well-established boundaries of rural and urban, private and imperial, metropole and colony and establishes architecture as both a medium and a product of the logics of modern finance developed in the late nineteenth century. Directing attention to the material foundations of imperial finance illuminates the functioning of global capitalism at its founding moment, throwing long shadows into the twentieth century.