Historic landscapes are vital elements of our nation's cultural continuum and must be protected as a part of living fabric of the community. This thesis addressed the preservation of historic landscape gardens, focusing on design strategies that can make historic time legible in landscape. It proposed a landscape plan for the preservation of Palm Cottage Garden in Gotha, Florida, a significant historic landscape resource. To determine the criteria used to establish how and to what period the estate should be restored, the Secretary of the Interior's Guidelines for the Treatment of Cultural Landscapes was followed. This process involved documenting the current site conditions and evaluating natural and cultural resources. For the garden to continue to keep its historic fabric, rehabilitation was selected. The garden was designed to preserve existing features and make efficient contemporary use of the garden possible. The landscape plan focused on strategies that reveal the site's significant past through new design elements while adapting to current and future needs.

As defined by Wai Mun Lim and Mel Endean in 2009 in their article “Elucidating the aesthetic and operational characteristics of UK boutique hotels” in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Boutique hotels have less than 100 rooms, have an individualistic and unique design, are often in historic buildings, and have highly personalized service for guests. I found that a boutique hotel that focuses on historic preservation and heritage tourism does four things. First, it respects the history of the building it is housed in, preserving as much of the original structure as possible. It also takes advantage of the unique features the historical building offers, highlighting them with design choices. Third, it educates guests on the history of the building and the surrounding area with both information and design. Lastly, it encourages guests to visit and engage with other heritage tourism sites in the area, offering concierge services and ticket packages.

This thesis analyzes the English National Trust’s interpretation of the making and reception of Stowe Landscape Garden. Specifically, this is a critique of the Trust’s narrative of nationalism, which is overlaid by the use of romantic interpretive themes. Arguably, Stowe’s first contribution was the combination of expressions of nature through landscape with architectural and sculptural monuments of Englishness. The National Trust, however, has combined interpretations of multiple landscape gardens across a century, thus blurring its actual significance. Stowe has been lumped into a jumbled framework of anachronistic landscape commentary much based in the literature of reception. The use of receptive history as fact to define concepts like ‘Englishness’, ‘Landscape Garden’, and the ‘Picturesque’ only further aid the unsustainable development of the historical landscape. Stowe is recognized as the most extensive extant landscape garden to exemplify contributions by the first four designers in the medium: Vanbrugh, Bridgeman, Kent, and Brown. Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown’s place-making role in the history of English landscape, much derided by the proponents of the Picturesque, found its first expression at Stowe from 1740 to 1751. Thus, Stowe’s Brownian dominant landscape, of which the bones are still largely intact, should be used as the designated period of interpretation. In this way, the National Trust could fulfill a modern desire for connection to nature, and with greater specificity, diversity and transparency in historical accounts, expand the accessibility of ‘Englishness’ in the form the consummate national landscape garden.

This thesis examines the city of Nanjing in the context of challenges to its sustainability and preservation represented by contesting forces in play in its rapid urbanization and redevelopment. These contesting forces are represented in a discourse matrix that illustrates the tensions between holism and economic development on one axis and contested interpretations of intrinsic values and place-based associations of residents on another. These tensions, which are present in many historic preservation cases across the globe, are made very specific by the administrative structure of preservation in China and in the city in tension with the pressures of conventional redevelopment that destroys historic fabric. At issue are losses of authenticity in the life of the city as understood by the associations of residents with their places of residence. This tension is exacerbated by the cultural and difficult political history of Nanjing, which can be understood to embody its intrinsic history. This history is recounted here to provide context for the evaluation of two city preservation projects, the Ming City Wall and the South Old Town preservation districts in relation to the discourse matrix. Conclusions are offered which suggest that only the future will reveal how Nanjing will or will not resolve these tensions between holistic preservation and government-controlled redevelopment.

Due to the fast-pace of urban development, there is a large demand for labor in big cities in China. Also, because of a huge income gap between countryside and cities, an increasing number of youths in rural areas have chosen to leave their homes and transfer to the cities causing a rapid decline of population and the vacancy of properties. This phenomenon is referred to as “Hollow Village”. Especially in case of some remote historic villages, due to labor turnover, villages which has precious historic and culture value are abandoned and stopped from development. Only children and elders are left in those villages without prospects. Ling is among those backward areas. It has held a vital place in Huizhou culture during the history of Chinese rural settlements and contains a few ancient villages which share some common but features while being distinctive. However, with the lag of population and development, it is gradually losing its style and forgotten by moderns. This district needs to be preserved and developed while its feature is protected. This thesis will analyze Ling’s current living conditions, tracing to its cultural and social changes through history and seeking to find architectural solutions, also by offering strategies that can lead to the revitalization of the place, while simultaneously creating some economic stimulations. The thesis aims to developing people’s sense of belonging and identity towards such villages, in the hope of revving as a prototype for other remote villages in China.

As generations segment and separate by distance and relationships, the chapel, school, and cemetery in what was known as the Saunders Chapel Community in Hawkins County, Tennessee, becomes a unifying bond to its descendents. This study records Saunders School history as an established central archive and uses the history for a restoration proposal. Saunders history, like all social and cultural history, exists as coalesced fragments. In the hope of deriving proof of the past, each entity and event is brought together so they might illuminate another. The story of Saunders Chapel will continue to grow and live on through the decedents, the site, and their history. The lives and faith that created the community has been brought to present light to insure the descendents of Saunders Chapel a place to keep coming home to.

Drawing from ongoing revitalization initiatives in Richmond, Virginia, this adaptive reuse project creates a structured dialogue between public and private expression to create a more immersive gallery experience for viewer and practitioner. The gallery experience is twofold; traditional object-based display and nontraditional process-based display. Preservation of the historic fabric of the existing Handcraft building at 1501 Roseneath is integrated with the transformative potential of introducing voyeuristic opportunities in creating a community arts center. Notions of voyeurism will center around ideas of visual connection and physical separation. This project questions if tactics of voyeurism, which inherently create physical barriers, can facilitate interaction and encourage co-creation in a creative setting. Structured moments of intimacy and control are accomplished through presented and found views of movement, object, and process. These moments of intimacy and control create a conceptual reciprocity which guides the design of this project. Ultimately, the redesign creates a dialogue between the process of making and the final product/object by facilitating interaction between the viewer and practitioner through different points of the creative process. The project moves away from exploiting the site’s formal, historical, and contextual components and encourages the audience member to engage with the maker through a corporeal, experiential encounter. The environment becomes a catalyst for cross-disciplinary creativity on an individual, group, and community level. The development of spaces that engage the creative mind and foster collaborative growth will serve the Richmond arts community and can act as an icon for successful urban transformation.

In order to remedy the shortcomings of past log structure documentation efforts, six proficiencies were established as necessary for the folklorist: (1) knowledge of, and use of, aerial photographs and topographic maps, (2) familiarity with usage of the compass, steel measuring tape and alidade, (3) accuracy in building measurement techniques, (4) the ability to competently compile a field notebook using standardized architectural notation, (5) operation of the camera as a recording tool, and (6) the production of measured drawings using the techniques specified by the Historic American Buildings Survey. The Rigsby House, a log structure in Warren County, Kentucky, served as a case study documentation, Providing the folklorist with a demonstration of techniques adaptable to his own documentation problem. Relevant comments on the difficulties inherent in recording structures constructed of wooden timbers were interjected as necessary throughout the text. Emphasis was placed on proficiencies three, four, and six, with more limited discussion of the remaining skills. Thirty-five illustrations were broken down into one perspective photograph, one aerial photograph, one partial elevation photograph, one topographic map, one plot plan, seventeen field notebook entries, twelve measured drawings, and one ion structure terminology drawing.

ABSTRACT Concurrent issues of social isolation and loneliness have long been recognized as problems that affect seniors but it is also being proven to affect young people as well, specifically with the rise of new technologies and a perception of connectedness. Co-living provides one alternative design solution to traditional housing models which can unlock a range of social benefits. MOTIVATION Loneliness is an unfortunate reality of modern life and it is something that most people experience at least once in their life (Cacioppo & Patrick, 2008). A study carried out by Berguno, Leroux McAinsh, Shaikh (2004), showed that 80% of young people and over 40% of adults over the age of 65 experienced loneliness in the course of life. Good housing plays an important role in building community and strengthening social interaction and bonding. Co-living is a residential structure that accommodates three or more biologically unrelated people (Bothell, 2015; Tummers, 2015). It is commonly contained within a single dwelling, sub-divided into a combination of public and private spaces (Scott-Hanson & Scott-Hanson, 2005). Co-housing, community living, or co-living in particular may be one possible solution for the endemic loneliness and social isolation challenges that we face. PROBLEM In many American cities, traditional housing forms are not meeting those needs and as our population increases, it is crucial to find replicable and sustainable methods of creating an inclusive urban fabric that meets the social and physical needs of all inhabitants (Darling, 2017). It is increasingly clear that there is a lack of understanding of the realities of co-living spaces and that this limits the application of the co-living model. While co-housing has traditionally been established in rural or suburban contexts, there are benefits to urban co-living (Kim, 2017). To experience the full ecological, economical and most importantly social benefits of urban co-living, research must be performed to understand how residents share, experience, and inhabit space. METHODS This project will respond by applying design thinking, a human centered design approach, and collaborative exploration methods to produce case studies for an urban co-living development in the US. Workshops, observations, literature reviews, and interviews will build a foundation of contemporary knowledge. Key themes identified in the literature on social isolation and loneliness will be used to inform a discussion on the potential for housing to help alleviate these problems. There will also be a rigorous case study analysis of recent precedents emerging in the field of collective housing. PRELIMINARY RESULTS The design of a flexible living space that explores isolation and connection at the scale of the individual and the collective in an existing building is an overarching goal of the design. It offers future users and designers the opportunity to learn and experiment towards a better understanding of how residents use space as well as examining loneliness and isolation as it relates to a design solution. CONCLUSION The success of the project, and its theoretical outcome, will show the role design can play in contemporary research, positive change, and sustainable development. The result will have implications for co-living providers, researchers, and designers supporting sustainable lifestyle alternatives.

MOTIVATION Two main groups in American society today are floundering: adolescent children of low income families and the elderly. Between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 p.m., one in five children are unsupervised. Left to their own devices, many become involved in negative behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse, sexual activity or in the worse cases, delinquency (Afterschool Alliance, 2016). It is proven that when children are alone after school, they not only miss out on valuable learning opportunities, but also their parents are affected as well by having to lose as many as eight work days annually to resolve behavioral issues. In this negative cycle, businesses experience losses of up to $300 billion a year (Afterschool Alliance, 2018). The other demographic group that is struggling is the elderly. Due to advanced medical care and better education, people are living longer (Singh, A., & Misra, N. 2009). After they retire from the work force, many find themselves with an unstructured routine. Friendships often fade. Connection with family may become less frequent, and it is difficult to form new relationships. These changes in their lives often result in feelings of isolation, loneliness, depression and even death (Singh, A., & Misra, N. (2009). A solution to these two problems is creating an intergenerational program. Intergenerational programs bring different age groups together to participate in activities and cultural exchanges. Bringing adolescents and the elderly together enriches the quality of life for each. The elderly can bond with youths through tutoring, mentoring, and sharing their life experiences, while gaining social interaction they would otherwise lack. The children can receive individual attention academically and emotionally, broaden their social skills, and benefit from their elders’ life knowledge and experience (Bethesda Health, 2014). PROBLEM For every dollar spent, three dollars are saved by increasing kids’ learning potential, improving kids’ performance at school and reducing crime and juvenile delinquency (Afterschool Alliance, 2017). However, under the current administration, funding is going to be cut nationwide by 100% in the 2019 fiscal year. (Afterschool Alliance, 2018). Therefore, it is essential to design a space that is conducive to relationship building, low maintenance and sustainable to reduce overhead and maximize funds for the participants. METHODS Methods of research will include peer reviewed literature and case studies. For example, I will study a program founded in Columbia, MD that helps disadvantaged children with at least one incarcerated parent achieve their dreams. I will also study local and regional afterschool programs. I also intend to create a survey for both adolescents and elderly to collect data on attitudes and expectations of intergenerational programming. PRELIMINARY RESULTS Intergenerational programs are beneficial to everyone in a community. By participating in such programs, both populations can help each other by understanding and accepting each other’s similarities and differences and learning from one another (Bethesda Health, 2015). They create a safer and more productive society and encourages upward mobility in economically depressed neighborhoods. For a relatively low investment, the return is tremendous. The major challenge of intergenerational programs is funding. CONCLUSION The research methods described above will support the design of an intergenerational clubhouse for the immediate community. The space will provide academic, social and values enrichment through supportive mentoring and the use of technology. And equally important, a safe place, security, comfort, trust, respect, and pride.