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This thesis examines the relationship between the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of Amazonian communities and their sustainable indigenous architecture. Over centuries, these communities have profoundly influenced the Amazon rainforests through their distinctive lifestyles, cultural practices, and ancestral knowledge. My research delves into their nomadic traditions, cultural significance, farming techniques, and understanding of life cycles. By exploring these elements and advocating for the restoration of their traditional ways of living, we can foster forest regrowth and biodiversity, ultimately enhancing the health and purpose of our forested areas. This study seeks to identify commonalities among different communities and understand how their ecological knowledge can aid the modern world in addressing deforestation and maintaining ecological balance. By integrating this traditional wisdom with contemporary practices, we can develop strategies to combat environmental degradation and support sustainable development. The insights gained from this research can contribute to more effective conservation efforts and promote a deeper appreciation of the invaluable role that indigenous knowledge plays in preserving our natural environment. / Master of Architecture / Every minute on our planet, approximately 2,800 trees are lost. This alarming rate of deforestation has serious consequences for our environment. Forests play a crucial role in maintaining the water cycle, storing carbon, and providing habitats for countless species. If we don't address deforestation, we could lose all the trees on Earth within the next 50 to 60 years. Among the deforested land around the globe, the amazon region has the highest percentage of destruction. The factors include illegal mining, logging, poaching, commercial plantation etc. Over centuries, the Amazonian Indigenous communities have shaped the Amazon rainforests through their unique lifestyles, cultural practices, and ancestral knowledge. My research aims to delve into various aspects of their lives and the connection, role between the communities and the ecosystem around them. By gaining insight into these aspects and working to restore their traditional ways of living, we can promote forest regrowth and biodiversity, ultimately improving the overall health and purpose of our forests. There is also scientific evidence explaining the phenomenon of cloud formation in the Amazon basin, referred to as the "Flying River." The indigenous communities of amazon created a type of soil which is dark, anthropogenic soil which is called Black soil. The black soil or Terra Preta is the most fertile soil on the planet today and surprisingly it is man made. Similarly, researchers believe that TPA of amazon region is achieved by the intervention of indigenous communities rather than natural agents like insects and birds that would help in formation of forest lands. This thesis talks about the correlation between different environmental phenomenon that occurs in the forest and the communities protecting them.

The prevailing approach to sustainable design focuses on low environmental impact objectives rather than the enhancement of the connection between people and the natural environment. According to Edward O. Wilson, biophilic design attempts to place an emphasis on the human to nature relationship in the built environment under the ideology that we have an innate affinity for the natural world because of our evolutionary development. In order to properly apply biophilic design, it is necessary to study and understand what it is about specific elements in nature that creates a sense of pleasure and well being. Nature is rich with sensual features, and the expression of these biophilic traits in architectural design is really what â sustainable designâ is all about. The purpose of this thesis is to explore Wilsonâ s theories of biophilic design through the development of an office skyscraper. The driving force behind the project is the design of the sensory oases, which are vertical extensions of the ground plane that contain features intended to stimulate the senses. / Master of Architecture

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Research suggests that interacting with nature has positive psychological, physiological, and cognitive benefits. Views to nature, interacting with nature, and other visual nature stimuli have been widely studied. However, nature soundscapes have received less attention; and the limited research that has been published has mixed findings. The present study assessed whether nature soundscapes influenced performance on cognitive and affective assessments. Participants completed the Flanker task, the Stroop task, a Visual Search task, and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, while exposed to either nature sounds alone, nature sounds with outdoor views, or neither. No statistically significant differences in performance were found for any of the three conditions, on either the cognitive and affective assessments. These findings indicate that the relation between nature sounds and cognition is more complex than originally presumed, and potential future directions are discussed. / Graduate / 2020-04-11

As concern for the health and wellbeing of children grows in a society geared toward a more sedentary lifestyle, many doctors and therapists are pointing to the importance of access to, and time spent interacting with the natural world. The idea of using the restorative properties of nature in healing has been around since ancient times. There is currently a renaissance in the health care industry looking at the importance of incorporating gardens into the design of health care facilities once again. This project proposes to explore the importance for children in health care facilities to have access to the natural world while using the biophilia hypothesis as a framework for design. Furthermore, the benefits of outdoor areas for the families (particularly siblings) of child patients and the staff of the health care facilities was explored. Through the use of literature and case reviews, data was collected and synthesized to determine the elements best used to strengthen the designs for children’s therapeutic environments. Outcomes include three models of therapeutic environments including focus areas for the Tucson Medical Center campus in Tucson, Arizona.

The current human-created division between the natural and built environments has exacerbated environmental problems because nature has been designed as and, consequently, is seen as an Other to be utilized and manipulated at will. Exploring this disconnected relationship between humans and nature, as well as its origin and its effect on building occupants and the environment, is thus a necessary part of this project. The primary concern, however, centers on how we can establish a relationship with the natural environment through interior design to help foster ecological design practices and positive environmental behaviors that move beyond sustainability, resulting in a positive human-nature relation while supporting a coevolutionary perspective. Specifically, this investigation utilizes biophilic design as a solution to the division. The product is an adaptively reused structure that houses a mixed-use, multi-unit residential development, which explores the creation of human-nature connections through direct, indirect, and symbolic means.

The current human-created division between the natural and built environments has exacerbated environmental problems because nature has been designed as and, consequently, is seen as an Other to be utilized and manipulated at will. Exploring this disconnected relationship between humans and nature, as well as its origin and its effect on building occupants and the environment, is thus a necessary part of this project. The primary concern, however, centers on how we can establish a relationship with the natural environment through interior design to help foster ecological design practices and positive environmental behaviors that move beyond sustainability, resulting in a positive human-nature relation while supporting a coevolutionary perspective. Specifically, this investigation utilizes biophilic design as a solution to the division. The product is an adaptively reused structure that houses a mixed-use, multi-unit residential development, which explores the creation of human-nature connections through direct, indirect, and symbolic means.

A more water-coherent approach is postulated as a primary pathway through which biophilic urbanism contributes to livability and climate change adaptation. Previous studies have shown that upstream water retention is more cost-effective than downstream for mitigating flood risks downstream. This dissertation proposes a research design for generating an iconography of water urbanism to make upstream cities more coherent. I tested a hypothesis of aquaphilic urbanism as a water-based sense of place that evokes water-based place attachment to help adapt cities and individuals to water-coherent urbanism. Cognitive mapping, photovoice, and emotional recall protocols were conducted during semi‐structured interviews with 60 residents and visitors sampled from eight water-centric cities in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. The participants provided 55 sketch maps. I performed content analyses, regression analyses, path analyses, and mediation analyses to study the relationships of 1) pictorial aquaphilia (intrinsic attachment to safe and clean water scenes) and waterscape imageability, 2) waterscape imageability and the coherence of city image, 3) egocentric aquaphilia (attachment to water-based spatial anchors) and allocentric aquaphilia (attachment to water-centric cities), and 4) the coherence of city image, allocentric aquaphilia, and openness towards water-coherent urbanism. Content analyses show that waterscape imageability and pictorial aquaphilia were the two most common reasons why participants mentioned the five waterscape types, including water landmarks, canals, lakes, rivers, and harbors, during the three recall protocols. Regression analyses indicate that water is a sixth element of imageability and that the imageable structure of canals and rivers and the identifiability of water landmarks significantly influenced the aesthetic coherence of city image. Path analyses suggest that allocentric aquaphilia can be attributed to water-based familiarity, water-based place identity (or identifiability), water-based comfort, and water-based place dependence (or orientation) evoked by water-based spatial anchors. Mediation analyses reveal that water-based goal affordance (as a construct of water-based comfort and water-based place dependence) aided environmental adaptation, while water-based imageability (as a construct of water-based familiarity and water-based place identity) helped adapt cities and individuals to water-coherent urbanism. Canal mappability mediated the effects of gender and of visitor versus resident on the coherence of city image to facilitate environmental adaptation.

The way humans currently interact with the atmosphere and oceans around us is unsustainable, with pollution entering our waters faster than we are collecting it, and the sea level rising faster than we are building coastal barriers to protect our current infrastructure. This thesis explores the common methodology for communicating climate change and its future effects, and highlights an opportunity for using infrastructure to facilitate interaction with the urban-aquatic interface. By promoting experiential contact with the natural spaces that are most at risk to climate change’s impacts, a sense of stewardship for those spaces will spur behavioral change and activism. On a local level, this thesis explores the history of public access to San Onofre State Beach, and the possibility for the restriction of that access in 2021. Using a 3D topographic and bathymetric model of San Onofre State Beach, I attempt to highlight the beauty of the undeveloped California coastline, and the benefits of keeping this 6.5-mile coastline within the State Parks system.