Since the turn of the 20th century, industrialisation and technological development of the machine has brought about mass production of almost everything from spaces, food, environments, experiences, and architecture. The dominance of machine-based processes has diluted the experience of the hand-made environment, once rich with tactility, quality, honesty, and craft; by means of reproduction and standardisation (Frampton, 1983). This has inevitably created a ‘“universal sameness” (Augè, 2008:xii) which spans the globe and reiterates what Ricouer (1961) declares as the formulation of a ‘Universal Civilisation’. Modern Architecture, which is formulated exclusively through machine construction methodologies, has also influenced a sense of “placelessness” (Frampton, 1983:26) whereby the built environment is facing a surge of monotonous machine generated interventions. Within a predominately machine built environment, there are, however, concurrent calls for a reflective engagement of Craft (Pallasmaa, 2005). Although craft has not disappeared, there is a weakening of one’s connection to an ‘existential ground’ (Pallasmaa, 2009) through the advent of the machine and its ability to render mass-produced environments that are not necessarily honest to its place and its inner workings (Pallasmaa, 2009, Sudjic, 2008). A more directly hand-made crafted architecture could then, by definition, have the ability to respond and reignite one’s existential ground and strengthen one’s relationship with the built environment. This could then have a direct influence for one’s reconnection and experience with architecture in the progressive yet inhumane machine-built environment so evident in the Modern world today. This dissertation sets out to explore where architecture is positioned within the 21st century of universal technique, standardisation, industrial processes and contemporary consumer culture. A dialectical method will set the discourse of the research, which is made up of 3 components. The thesis; being architecture as a Machine, the opposing antithesis; being architecture as Craft and the synthesis; being architecture as a dialectic modern handcrafted. This dissertation seeks a unification of machine-built and hand-made technologies through machine processes richly layered with craft, that may well perpetuate a progressive and responsive modern handcrafted dialectic architecture in South Africa. This research could then be implemented towards the design of a collaborative skills development facility in Durban. / Thesis (M.Arch.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

The American Institute of Architects ranks Columbus, Indiana, a small city of 44,000 people, sixth among American cities for the quality of its architectural design and innovation. The community’s total of over 70 excellent modern and post-modern buildings are a result of highly ambitious public and private patronage of design excellence. However, no document explains how just a few individuals were responsible for this extraordinary achievement. This graduate thesis will focus on those individuals. In addition to documenting the involvement of J. Irwin Miller, an industrialist known for his local and national leadership, this thesis will explore the critical, yet often uncredited, role that Eero Saarinen, one of the nation’s most distinguished architects, played in this achievement. / The context for Columbus architectural development -- Eero Saarinen : the man behind the architecture -- The origins of Columbus' architectural development -- The Cummins Engine Foundation Architecture Program during the life of Eero Saarinen -- The Cummins Engine Foundation Architecture Program after Eero Saarinen -- Corporate architecture in Bartholomew County. / Department of Architecture

Herbert Smenner was one of the most prolific architects in the east central Indiana area from 1920 up until his death in 1950. During those three decades, Smenner designed some of Muncie's most beloved and recognizable buildings, including churches, schools, homes, and governmental institutions. The purpose of this study is to study trends in architecture from 1920 to 1950 through Herbert Smenner's work, to determine if he followed these trends, and to see if these trends themselves influenced his work.Smenner was a very sought after architect in Muncie and the surrounding area. His main clientele were the upper class of Muncie, as well as being the choice for many public commissions. Smenner's work, for the most part, did follow the architectural trends of the time. He worked mostly in the revival styles, which was the primary mode of choice during the 1920's and 1930's. In the early 1930's he also designed several buildings in the popular Art Deco and Art Moderne styles. His innovative design the Harrison Township School in 1924, was popular among many regional architects who came to study the unique layout of the school.Smenner was a troubled man. Throughout his career he battled illness, depression and severe issues with his temper. His work was widely appreciated, but the man faced many trials in the public eye do to his personality and legal problems. Smenner was often known as a copy artist by his peers. Many of his contemporaries felt that Smenner never had the creative skills to be a true architect, and that he was simply a wonderful draftsman interpreting the designs of others. Sadly, he took his own life at the age of 52 only leaving behind his buildings as a testament to his life and accomplishments. / Department of Architecture

No description available.

This diploma thesis focuses on particular villas built in South Bohemian region at the beginning of the 20th century. The introductory chapters of this thesis explain the term "villa" and also briefly describe this specific type of construction. Follows the chapter summarising the most important architectural styles of the 20th century which is followed by the chapter concerning origin and development of functionalism both in the Czech Republic and in the rest of the world. The sixth chapter includes the core of this thesis by analysing particular South Bohemian villas. At this placethe author is focusing on personalities of the builders, architects hand in hand with a description of the original appearance of the buildings and their current state. The text of this thesis is for illustration amended by number of picture attachements.

This thesis examines French architect Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879), who combined eighteenth-century Rationalism with the historicist, anti-academic message of Romanticism, which was impelling the nineteenth-century architectural reform movement into the industrial age. Sources used include Viollet-le-Duc's architectural drawings and published works, particularly volume one of his Entretiens sur l'Architecture. The study is arranged chronologically, and it discusses his career, his restoration work, and his demands for reform of architectural education. One chapter contains a detailed analysis of his Entretiens. This thesis concludes that Viollet-le-Duc was as much a historian as he was an architect, and it notes that his hopes for reform were realized in the twentieth century.

No description available.

This thesis explores an alternate typology for a residential high rise in the Hudson Square neighborhood in Manhattan. The units that make up the building are organized with stairs and corridors placed along the interior perimeter of the unit which both bound the central floor space and expose it, creating a layered vertical circulation space around a central, permeable core. The collective organization of units within the building recapitulate their interior organization to form the building object creating a whole that is governed by the same organizational rules as the parts. The building is created as an object in the city meant to frame the duality between transparency and reflection, between lines and surfaces and ultimately between exhibition and anonymity. / Master of Architecture

This work seeks to explore the nature of a wooden boat and how a boat's design and construction can influence the building of a house. It is a search for a structure that bears a memory of a boat and celebrates the craft and care of which boats are built. The house is located on the north side of a secluded reservoir in the Northwest Georgia mountains. It is raised up on and supported by a structure that is reminiscent of the way a keel of a boat supports and connects the boat together. This structure extends out from the house to a small shelter for a boat over the water. On the interior, heavy frames support and give shape to the thin shell of the house. Their repetition encourages a view of the boat and its shelter. The house itself is thought of as a vessel, a place that provides a sense of holding, of protecting and keeping safe, and of strength. / Master of Architecture

Kwong Hon Wing. / "Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 1998-99, design report." / Includes bibliographical references.