Thesis (M.F.A.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 15 p. : col. ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 13).

This thesis explores how religion is being represented, interpreted, and discussed in Canadian museums. It draws from a sample of thirty-one semi-structured interviews with curators and museum professionals and from the author’s own observations of fifty-one museums in eleven provinces and territories across Canada to explore the themes of space, power, and identity as they relate to religion in Canadian museums. Using the theories of sacred space created by Knott, this thesis explores how Canadian museums are capable of becoming sacred spaces based on their ability to give visitors numinous experiences, to act as contested spaces, and to serve as a location of religion. Canadian museums are powerful, as argued by Bourdieu and Foucault, by their very nature as places that produce and define knowledge, through claims to objectivity and an emphasis on a progress narrative, giving museums (and curators) power to define what is and is not religious by deciding whether and how to discuss the religious aspects of an artefact, object, or culture. Within the context of these two themes, museums enact Ricoeur’s theory of narrative identity by telling stories about different groups in order to create and communicate their identities. Some museums present a homogenous Canadian identity based on white mainline Christian identity while others explore the complexity of Canadian identity by telling the stories of non-mainstream religious or ethnic groups and their participation in Canadian history. Aboriginal peoples in Canada have become involved in the display of their traditions in larger museums and have started creating their own museums and cultural centres where their voices can take precedence.

This thesis is an exploration of the historical, societal, and individual as well as material factors that contribute to the constructing of space, and in particular, sacred space. With the idea that the making of sacred space is simultaneously a material construct and a construct of the mind, both postures were considered and studied throughout the research and design process of the thesis. / Master of Architecture

Religion developed out of myths. Myths developed independently in different places of the world. It seems that people have the wish to explain themselves what they perceive. Our psychological setting make us journey within ourselves to develop us. This building tries to support this process with its layout and design. / Master of Architecture

The architectural practice has long held several ideas about how a building should present itself relative to its structure. With modern building technologies and building codes, the structure of a building and the facade can often be very different. Modernist architects theoretically felt very strongly about the importance of material honesty in a buildings, as the 20th Century moved on, many architects moved towards buildings that used materials to create forms and atmospheres that were less dependent on the structural materials and forms of these buildings. The following thesis explores these ideas about material and structure through three separate examples of buildings with a similar size, site, and program. The project is a theme and variation, with the theme being the building type, and the variation being the philosophy of the relation between structure and material. Researching drawings in Edward R. Ford's book The Details of Modern Architecture, along with specific details of Peter Zumthor's Therme Vals help to inform my personal thought process when it comes to detailing the buildings I have designed. The designs propose three small chapels on a Catholic college campus in Northeast Washington, DC. / Master of Architecture / The following thesis is an exploration of ideas about how a building’s structure relates to its outward appearance. With modern building technology and building codes, the appearance and structure of a building are often very different. Architects have taken many different approaches to reconciling these differences. My thesis explores how different architects I admire approach this disconnect, and I use what I have learned from these various approaches to design three similar buildings - all chapels on a college campus in Washington, DC - with varying approaches.

Traditional church buildings negotiate thresholds in a way that supports a program of cyclical and elevating rituals. Each threshold is marked by an architectural image, one that comes to be associated with a particular practice or event. This thesis begins with an analysis of the experience of sacred spaces, then considers ways to emphasize qualities of existing elements. The design inhabits the liminal spaces across thresholds and promotes the contemporary ritual practices of art. The chosen test site for the design methodology is Central Presbyterian Church on the bank of the Grand River in Cambridge, Ontario. A recent resurgence of the local creative community has drawn interest to the area and provides the basis of the user-based program for this project.

"Light, whose beauty within darkness is as jewels that one might cup in one's hands; light that hollowing out darkness and piercing our bodies, blows life into `space"'.'Tadao AndoThis thesis book documents the process and procedure of a two-year study of how daylight can be manipulated by design to enhance and elevate the experiential qualities of sacred space and then applies those characteristics to the design of an architectural thesis project.The exploration involved two major points of focus: one was the exploration to identify the principle qualities and characteristics of natural light and the other, to apply those principles of light into built form.This paper is presented in five processes: an introduction, three types of reflection, and a conclusion. Process I, presents the theoretical underpinning on the subject of light and identifies the key qualities and characteristics of light and the daylighting principles applied by Louis I. Kahn and Tadao Ando in the formulation of sacred space. Process II, presents the articulation of the necessary criteria to design a sacred space. Process III, applies the daylighting strategies to the design of a "one-volume" library for displaying Leonardo da Vinci's Codex. Process IV, presents an alternate scenario and an explanation of architecture as meaning. Process V, summerizes the meaning of the architecture and experience of the Library. 'Ando, Tadao, Complete Works, Phaidon Press Limited, London, (1997). / Department of Architecture

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-74).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2003. / Title from title screen (viewed April 6, 2009). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Dept. of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts. Degree awarded 2003; thesis submitted 2002. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [75]-77).