Between the National Gallery of Art and the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., the National Museum of Film and Photography design thesis explores issues of architecture at a scale of cultural significance. This thesis is the architectural manifestation of a museum as a research institution, separate from, yet contributing to an educational mission. It is inspired by the thin line between the two worlds, the public museum and the unseen, though often larger, private archive. In this thesis, a home for a treasury of artifacts was designed, so that they might be experienced, and for their intrinsic value. This design thesis explores the role of context, scale, and geometry in a building for the National Mall, as well as the critical requirements and specialized program of a museum. The orthogonal and radial geometry of the city are echoed in the plan. The building program, as well as the physical opportunities of the site, led to the form of the building. The simultaneous cycles of the artifact, the visitor, and the worker, and how they related to the role and amount of natural light also contributed to the form. The thesis is also developed based on the relationship between an object or a film, and a viewer. / Master of Architecture

For the last three years, D.C. United and the District of Columbia have been negotiating a site for a new stadium for their soccer club. The owners of United wanted to take a small parcel of the land now known as "Poplar Point", an undeveloped brown-field on the Southeast side of the Anacostia River. The switch from the Anthony Williams to the Adrian Fenty administration in 2007 has proven unkind for the club, which to this day is embroiled in negotiations with the City for the Poplar Point site. While following this debate in the media, I couldn't help but question why United was not pursuing a plot of land on their current site. The club now plays in RFK Stadium, a venue ill-equipped for the sport that costs the club millions of dollars a year because they cannot fill its stands. The site, however, is located on axis with the Capitol, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial. My initial research brought me to France in the 18th century. / Master of Science

This thesis explores relationships between the National Mall and the quarries that supported its construction. It focuses on the Washington Monument and its source of material, the Cockeysville Quarry, Maryland. By studying the movement of stone, the thesis begins to understand both sites as landscapes in process. It then examines the sites histories including land forms, immigrated laborers and railways changes associated with quarrying and construction. It happens that Ian McHarg also studied both sites fifty years ago in Design with Nature. Mcharg's analysis overlooks the potential of the industrial quarry to recharge the Marble Valley aquifer and does not account for the projected sea level rise on the National Mall. It is necessary to examine the two sites again. McHarg's ecological principles and methods are still the basic evaluation criteria for the examination (especially his understanding of landscapes as process.) The design project of this thesis uses shifting hydrologies at both sites to drive new uses,earthwork, urban forest (tree canopies), and axial relationships, inspired by the materials, forms, and historical links between the two landscapes. By looking at the landscapes as a pair, the design recalls the past connections between the sites and constructs new relationships ideologically and physically. / MLA / It is common for there to be a separation between quarries and the buildings and landscape we create from their materials. People rarely realize the materials are the records and links of the history, culture, society and ecology of the paired landscape between construction and material producer. This thesis starts from investigating the origin of building stones used for the memorials on the National Mall. Tracing stone sources links the National Mall landscape and the quarries that supported its construction. It focuses on the Washington Monument and its source of material, the Cockeysville Quarry, Maryland. The thesis examines the geographic, hydrological and physiographic information of the landscape between the National Mall and the Cockeysville Quarry based on ecological methods, especially the understanding of both sites as landscapes in process. It also studies the sites’ histories including landforms, immigrated laborers, and railways changes associated with quarrying and construction. The thesis design project explores the question of how the relationships can be reflected and applied in the intervention of the two landscapes. Within the framework generated by the relationship study, water issues have been identified as the main common problem. Protecting the Marble Valley aquifer and dealing with the thread of the sea level rise on the National Mall is the major consideration. The main strategy of design is to use the anticipated hydrologies to drive the new uses, earthwork, urban forest (tree canopies) at both sites. The second strategy of design is to use history, form and material relationships to inspire new connections between the sites ideologically and physically.

The National Mall in Washington DC has become an “encyclopaedia of American history,” however conspicuous in its absence, is the history of African American slavery upon which this national artifact was built. Slavery may not be cause for celebration as one of America`s proudest moments, however its history is critical to understanding the history of America and why the deep-seated antagonism between the races continues to exist within its very core. The purpose of the thesis is to focus on this aspect of American history in order to design an appropriate memorial that would satisfy this gap between this history and its recognition on the National Mall. Secondly, the slave memorial intends to honour the victims of slavery who have been largely ignored, trivialized, or misrepresented by the few memorials in Washington that claim to address their memory. A major portion of this thesis constitutes a mapping of the memorials and monuments of Washington DC in an attempt to understand how the capital has come to embody the “national identity” of the United States. The thesis also contains a summarized history of slavery and racial tension in the United States. This material is included in the thesis in order to remind us of the depth and seriousness of the history that the slave memorial must address through its built, architectural form.

The National Mall in Washington DC has become an “encyclopaedia of American history,” however conspicuous in its absence, is the history of African American slavery upon which this national artifact was built. Slavery may not be cause for celebration as one of America`s proudest moments, however its history is critical to understanding the history of America and why the deep-seated antagonism between the races continues to exist within its very core. The purpose of the thesis is to focus on this aspect of American history in order to design an appropriate memorial that would satisfy this gap between this history and its recognition on the National Mall. Secondly, the slave memorial intends to honour the victims of slavery who have been largely ignored, trivialized, or misrepresented by the few memorials in Washington that claim to address their memory. A major portion of this thesis constitutes a mapping of the memorials and monuments of Washington DC in an attempt to understand how the capital has come to embody the “national identity” of the United States. The thesis also contains a summarized history of slavery and racial tension in the United States. This material is included in the thesis in order to remind us of the depth and seriousness of the history that the slave memorial must address through its built, architectural form.

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Food embodies our most intimate relationship with nature. We ingest it to survive. Without it, perish. Through time humans have physically distanced the places of food cultivation from human inhabitation. In recent decades green planning initiatives embraced urban agriculture as a critical element of sustainable communities. However, current approaches to bring food cultivation into cities require labor, capital, and physical resources that are often unavailable in sufficient quantity, quality, or duration for provisioning sites to be considered sustainable. Within each pillar of sustainability - economy, ecology, and equity - barriers exist. Rooted in indigenous land stewardship and food provisioning practices, permaculture (permanent agriculture) offers strategies and tactics to overcome those barriers. Despite mounting evidence that permaculture will result in more sustainable food systems, adoption is limited. Social aesthetics is the term employed by cultural theorists to describe how institutions, social groups, and collective projects codify their values and beliefs. The diffusion of innovation theory suggests that ideas and information from a highly specialized world require translation into a language the rest of society understands to reach widespread adoption. This thesis translates permaculture to contribute to a sustainable social aesthetic for food provisioning and change American food culture. The translation occurs on iconic public land - 'America's front yard'. In 1901 the National Mall was envisaged to serve as a stage on which democratic values are expressed and became the prototype for America's City Beautiful movement. Today, its carpet of lawn framed by American Elm trees epitomizes the economic, ecological, and equity challenges of monoculture landscapes. This project aims to express democratic values through polyculture. It invites every citizen to participate in acts of justice rather than submit to illusions of order and control. From site selection through design, spatial and temporal scale is critical. This thesis explores food's past to understand our present and imagine our future. The design creates an immersive food experience that equips visitors with the knowledge and resources to apply permaculture at the homestead, neighborhood, city, and regional scales. The remade front yard becomes the symbol of a country where places of food cultivation and human inhabitation are one and the same. / Master of Landscape Architecture / Food embodies our most intimate relationship with nature. We ingest it to survive. Without it, perish. Through time humans have slowly increased the distance between where we grow our food (the country) and where we live (the city). In the process, we have built a system where millions of people either suffer from diet-related illnesses or experience hunger on a regular basis. We have damaged our soils and introduced chemicals that have contaminated our waters and polluted our air. We have built a system that both contributes to and is threatened by climate change. Our relationship with nature has become toxic. For decades there have been movements to change, transform, or replace the food system. In cities across the country, these movements appear as organic food in grocery stores, community gardens, urban farms, farmers' markets, farm-to-table restaurants, and more recently, food forests. The problem is each requires labor, capital, and physical resources that are often unavailable in sufficient quantity, quality, or duration for them to be sustainable, let alone scalable. What if there is another way to grow food - a way that heals the soil, decontaminates water, supports biodiversity, and provides enough for everyone? Rooted in indigenous land stewardship and food provisioning practices, permaculture (permanent agriculture) offers strategies and tactics to reverse the negative impacts of the existing food system. Despite mounting evidence that permaculture will result in more sustainable food systems, adoption is limited. For it to become mainstream, someone has to translate it into a language society understands. I try to do that through this thesis. My translation occurs on iconic public land - 'America's front yard'. In 1901 the National Mall was imagined to serve as a stage on which democratic values are expressed and became the prototype for America's City Beautiful movement. Today, its carpet of lawn framed by American Elm trees epitomizes the economic, ecological, and equity challenges of monoculture landscapes. This project aims to express democratic values through polyculture. This thesis explores food's past to understand our present and imagine our future. The design creates an immersive food experience that equips visitors with the knowledge and resources to apply permaculture at the homestead, neighborhood, city, and regional scales. The remade front yard becomes the symbol of a country where places of food cultivation and human inhabitation are one and the same.

No description available.