Thesis Design inspires simplified understandings of complex phenomenon and manifests, through spatial experiences, external loci for exploration of the natural world. Assertion While the early Americans utilized "Manifest Destiny" for their own conquests, the manifestation of these architectural elements alludes to the buildings propensity to instill a sense of wonder in the observer. This building strives to present a new Manifest Destiny, where there is not an indomitable expansion of land but rather the expansion of what many Americans know of the American landscape. Four regional interpretations of the exterior landscape develop a similar vernacular for a populace that resides in the built environment more than they do outdoors, per an NHAPS study. (Klepeis, Nelson, Ott, Robinson, Tsang, and Switzer, 2001) Ultimately, the museum will present a reasonable facsimile of the natural landscape and inspire the public's exploration into the American landscape. Research for this thesis stems from my personal exploration and experiences while traveling across America. Reasonable facsimiles of the landscape developed from the quintessence of each regions overall gesture, my interpretation of what I experienced through my travels, and my ethereal perception. The thesis of each region has a hierarchy of primary, secondary, and tertiary ideals that have inspired the design, from east to west: Appalachian - Passage, Barrier, Sliding Plains - Vast, Horizon, Fluid Grand Canyon (Canyons) - Erosion, Depth, Vertical Redwoods - Solitude of Silence, Solitude of Isolation, Massive A theoretical investigation of the spatial quality of this museum yields a juxtaposition between perception and affordance. Affordance is a term that James J. Gibson coined that denotes the ability of an environment to be utilized differently through a multitude of dimensions including time (as age or time of day), need (present to the person at that moment), and ability (physical). Affordance defines the static nature of the environment and the observer's requirements and the environment's ultimate fulfillment of those needs (Gibson, 1987). This is to demonstrate that a person experiences space differently and specifically to themselves according to their needs. To present a building that is of my own experiences, while diluted to its pure elements, is not demonstrative of the actual experience. It is something that can never be captured, the phenomenology of the landscape and how someone may feel in that space. Thus, leading to my thesis exploration, having the observer delve into spaces, experiences, and feelings set forth in the project. Then, inspiring the observer to explore the natural phenomenon of the American landscape. REFERENCE 1. Klepeis, N. E., Nelson, W. C., Ott, W. R., Robinson, J. P., Tsang, A. M., and Switzer, P. (2001). The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS) A Resource for Assessing Exposure to Environmental Pollutants. Retrieved from https://indoor.lbl.gov/sites/all/files/lbnl-47713.pdf 2. Gibson, J. J. (1982). Reasons for Realism: Selected Essays of James J. Gibson (Resources for Ecological Psychology). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. / Master of Architecture

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Cornell University, 1989. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 251-286).

Thesis ()--University of Delaware, 2009. / Principal faculty advisor: Wendy Bellion, Dept. of Art History. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--New York University, 1974. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-125).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 207-219). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 207-219). Also available on the Internet.

abstract: Western landscape photography helped to create an imaginative perception of a new nation for Americans. Early nineteenth-century photographers captured a vision of uncharted terrain that metaphorically fulfilled a two-fold illusion: an untouched Eden and a land ready and waiting for white settlement. The sublime and picturesque experiences of the West provided artists a concept that could be capitalized upon by employing various forms of manipulation. In the twentieth-century, the role of landscape photography evolved as did the advancement of the West. Images of wilderness became art and photographers chose to view the western landscape differently. Some focused more sharply and critically on the relationship between the land and the people who lived on it. The influential exhibition in 1975, New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-altered Landscape presented work that showed a landscape altered, marked by power lines, houses, and fences. The West as Eden no longer existed. Today, photographers continue to examine, image, and experience western land anew. In this thesis I examine the relationship of contemporary landscape photography and the role of the West, guided by an analysis that traces the history of American ideologies and attitudes toward natural land. The artists I have chosen recognize landscape not as scenery but as the spaces and systems people inhabit, and use manipulative strategies that emphasize an artificial character of the West. Their work elicits antecedent mythologies, pictorial models, and American ideologies that continue to perpetuate internationally. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Art History 2013

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19th century America is shaped greatly by territorial expansion into NativeAmerican lands. A famous painting which represents this process is called AmericanProgress by John Gast. This study argues that the display of power between the settlersand the Native Americans in the painting mirrors the dominant discourse on 19th centurywestward expansion. So, the analysis is concerned with how the settlers are constructed,how the Natives are displayed and how this results in a power hierarchy. These findingsare then compared to 19th century discourse on the westward movement. The analysis isguided by the methodological tool of Foucauldian discourse analysis. The analytical stepsare informed by the two American Studies scholars Angela Miller and Martin Christadler.The research is based on pragmatism with a leaning towards constructivism. This studyfinds that American Progress contrasts civilisation and nature in similar ways as thisdichotomy is established in the discourse of the 19th century. Westward expansion in thepainting and in 19th century discourse is justified by constructing the Natives as godlessand the settlers as godly. The difference in brightness in American Progress supports thedichotomies of civilisation and nature as well as godliness and godlessness.

This thesis explores the intersections of culture, nationalism, and neoliberal globalization through examination of the construction of Mexican identity in Canada after the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. I evaluate how visual art has been used by the governments of Canada and Mexico to negotiate new bilateral relationships in the face of increased North American integration under free trade. My study includes analysis of two Canada-based exhibitions, “Mexican Modern Art, 1900-1950” and “Panoramas: The North American Landscape in Art.” Framing my discussion within the larger history of North American integration, I argue that these two exhibitions are part of a larger exchange in the area of cultural diplomacy between Canada and Mexico, which was especially prominent at the turn of the millennium. These case studies provide a means to assess the manipulation of culture, the creation of a new North American identity, and the management of national/ist narratives within the larger project of neoliberal globalization. Critically situating my study within the current discourse of globalization theory, I contend that artworks in these exhibitions were positioned in a manner to positively reinforce new trade relationships under NAFTA. / Thesis (Master, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2008-08-20 15:05:45.256