THE WALL IS: the side of a room or building, between the floor, foundation, and the ceiling, root, a structure of stone, brick, or other material, built up to enclose, divide, support, or protect.¹ The wall is a barrier; separating and containing spaces, defining public and private relationships, dividing natural and cultured environments. The wall is both visual image and physical realization. TRANSITIONS ARE: a change or passing from one condition, place, activity, topic to another (a time between distinct periods.)² Transition implies movement. Movement in terms of time and relationships. Movement from one point to another; gradual or direct, vertical or horizontal, slow or fast. Transitions define and clarity the issue and the structure. THE INBETWEEN IS: that which is in the middle, that which comes in the space of time separating two places or persons. That is neither one kind nor the other, indifferent or uncommitted; a person or thing inbetween.³ The inbetween as public domain or private realm. An implied wall which separates and contains objects, defines public and private relationships, dividing natural and cultured environments. The inbetween as both implied wall and defined space. / Master of Architecture

“For it is ultimately the function of art, in imposing a credible order upon ordinary reality, and thereby eliciting some perception of an order in reality, to bring us to a condition of serenity, stillness and reconciliation; then leave us as Virgil left Dante, to proceed toward a region where that guide can avail us no farther." T.S. Eliot This thesis is a search for an imposed credible order in a town library. As such it is simply a vehicle developing a process to produce architecture which is stable, whole and meaningful. / Master of Architecture

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, June, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Liberty University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Solitude is a National Register historic property that is today a central part of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University campus. The property was purchased in 1872 to create the site of the land-grant college that later became VPI. The focus of this study is a log dependency associated with the extant nineteenth century mansion on the property. Both buildings have suffered extensively from deterioration in recent years, but are now receiving some attention. By substantially augmenting a historic structure report on the outbuilding filed in 1989, this thesis contributes to the building's documentation and accurate interpretation. As one of two early structures on the site that still retains a large percentage of its original fabric, it is an important artifact that should be preserved for posterity. Documentation through meticulous research is an important part of preservation. When the building is physically gone, knowledge of it will survive. Little was known about the dependency prior to the completion of this research. The best guess on its age appears to have erred by thirty years. The building's original function has long been the subject of debate. If it was a dwelling, there are no historic documents by which to identify the occupants. This study examines various aspects of the building, including its present condition, construction practices and materials, dimensions, form and function, location, age, historical context, and buried cultural deposits around the building. The biological agents that have attacked and caused severe deterioration of the building are identified, as well as the conditions that precipitated the attacks. The methods employed or explored in this research include archaeological excavations, artifact analysis, relative dating methods, wood identification and pathology, dendrochronology, basic chemistry, database generated spatial imaging, library searches, measured drawing, and photography. Use of these methods has provided insightful information regarding construction materials and their properties, construction practices, date of construction, and the history of the building's use and maintenance. Information about the building's occupants has also come to light, such as their socio-economic status, their standard of living, i.e. the goods they consumed and the comfort of their quarters, and their refuse disposal practices. Considering all the information revealed, a strong case is made that the building was originally a domestic slave's dwelling, constructed in the early 1840s. / Master of Science

A mail survey of the US secondary wood products industry was conducted to assess the current species used and the market potential for the use of "non-traditional" species. Seven market segments within the secondary wood products industry were surveyed including the cabinet, flooring, millwork, office furniture, dimension and component, window and door, and household furniture market segments. Information from three hundred and fifty-seven was analyzed for this research. The results indicate that the secondary wood products industry is using a majority of "traditional" species to manufacture their products. For the industry as a whole, oak was the most popular species, which included the use of both red and white oak. Red oak average board footage use was calculated to be 1.3 million per year in the secondary industry. "Traditional" species for the component manufacturing segment were determined to be red oak, white oak, hard maple, cherry, ash, and soft maple. These species are being produced because of consumer demand. The component segment sells most of its products to the household furniture and cabinet market segment. Both of these markets are driven by fashion trends and what consumers view as "in-style." The component segment will be able to produce more "non-traditional" wood products when their customers (i.e., the six other market segments that were surveyed) begin to make finished goods with these species. Analysis showed that significant differences did exist between "non-traditional" species using companies and "traditional" companies on their ratings of component and component supplier attributes. Consistent supply was one attribute that was rated higher by many segments' "non-traditional" species users. The issue of supply will need to be addressed before many of these companies will be willing to use more "non-traditional" species. Within the overall secondary industry there was a significant difference between the importance that "traditional" species users placed on consistent supply and the importance that "non-traditional" species users placed on this attribute. "Non-traditional" species users were more concerned with having a consistent supply of their raw material and component products. For "non-traditional" species to be successful within the secondary wood products industry, a proven supply line must first be established. There is a potential to use "non-traditional" species in all of the markets that were surveyed. The millwork segment displays the most potential. This market segment already uses a wide variety of wood species, which shows there is no dominate species that is desired. The office furniture market segment also displays potential for "non-traditional" species. This segment desires a low priced raw material and "non-traditional" species can fulfill that need. / Master of Science

The food standard of the National Nutrition Council was met much more nearly by users of the community canning center than by non-users. Nearly all meat canned by the one hundred families interviewed was canned at the community canning center. The Food Production War Training courses were, in 1943, their first year, composed largely of people who had not gardened or processed foods before. They averaged more quarts canned than did experienced gardeners not attending classes. The families of those not attending these classes averaged a greater annual consumption of potatoes and dried beans than was recommended for a healthful diet. Evening School classes, which followed the interviews in 1943, were composed of members of families whose diet had shown an over-supply of potatoes and dried beans and a shortage of tomatoes. They made plans for 1944 gardens in which food in recommended proportions was to be produced. They planned to use improved methods of production. Row space and seeds ordered were "tailored to fit” the particular families concerned. They used improved practices recommended and increased their use of the canning center. Families of the V. P. I. faculty provided the most adequate supply of vegetables in 1943. The negro group came second in this. All groups needed an addition of tomatoes. By using the canning center, the High Top and faculty groups led in the number of quarts of vegetables, apples, and meat canned. Professional and farmer groups provided the most vegetables but the latter canned them very little. Enumeration data show that lack of proper foods was more common among those not attending classes than among those attending. Interest in diet, food production and conservation shown during the interviews seemed genuine. Lack of sufficient information on these subjects was prevalent. However, classes in 1943 and in 1944 were lightly attended. As teaching aids, graphic means were most effective. Many such films, charts, and pictures are available. No means of getting adequate whole grains into the diet has been established in the community studied. The annual family food budget is of great value in covering the needs adequately and efficiently. Information and facilities for a competent food conservation program are not lacking in the community of Blacksburg, yet a large proportion of its families have not yet become aware of their needs or of the means of providing for such needs. Where interest is aroused, the group studying together find much information that is "news" to them and proceed, with improved practices, to gratifying results. A valuable development of democracy is found in such groups where mutual interest and shared work bring people of many classes, occupations, and backgrounds together in the neighborhood and in the community. Basic food needs are common to all people and interest in them is seldom lacking. The integration of community life has a great opportunity in the food conservation program. Individual health and national coordination lie in such a program in the community. / M.S.

To determine microwave usage patterns, a telephone survey was administered to 300 college students living off campus. The objectives of the study were to determine: a) incidence of ownership, b) characteristics of students who have a microwave oven and those that do not, c) patterns of use of microwave ovens, and d) characteristics of the present microwave oven and one desired in the future. Rogers’ Adoption Process was used as the model to determine that each owner had adopted the appliance into their lifestyle. The adoption stage was divided into three use levels: primary appliance used for cooking, appliance used as a supplement to the ranges and appliance used infrequently. It was found that 192 (64%) of the 300 participants had a microwave oven in there household and 237 (79%) would make a purchase of an appliance in the future. The microwave ovens that are currently owned have an average of 4.2 features including a minute timer, variable power, automatic defrost, and touch controls. Students who would purchase a microwave in the future desired an average of 7.2 features, minute timer, variable power, automatic defrost, touch controls, clock, and delay start. The tasks that are currently being performed in the microwave were divided into low, medium, and high complexity. Students using their microwaves more than their range prepare the most medium and low complexity foods, while owners who use their microwave as a supplement to their range prepare the greatest number of high complexity foods. Participants in all levels of adoption were satisfied with foods prepared in the microwave most of the time. Information from this study would be relevant to microwave manufacturers, residential property development corporations, and designers of food products and container. / Master of Science

This thesis is an investigation of architectural elements and lighting conditions that reinforce a journey. From the initial encounter to the presence of the sanctuary, a Presbyterian church has been constructed in downtown Blacksburg to instrumentally govern an interaction between congregation and form. / Master of Architecture

Virtual City Environments (VCEs) and Mirror Worlds can be a useful resource for communities such as the local government, researchers and the general public to collaborate on tasks like town planning, threat assessment, commerce and research. There are open standards like Extensible 3D (X3D, which represents 3D graphics) and CityGML (a Geography Markup Language to manage 3D building data). These standards are royalty-free and used to create, manage, share and portray such environments. However, there are critical challenges to delivering such complex and detailed Mirror Worlds in real-time. In this work, we focus on runtime data structures and performance for Level-of-Detail (LOD) management and real-time portrayal. We begin with a VCE defined in existing semantic models such as the CityGML specification. We implement and evaluate a novel X3D-based Level-of-Detail technique called ProxyPrismLOD, which leverages the CityGML standard of a 4-step LOD hierarchy. For switching between different models of the same object at near ranges, our LOD technique uses a custom shape we call a ProxyPrism to optimally encapsulate irregularly and asymmetrically shaped building models. First, we ran a user study to understand the visual dynamics of range-based LOD switching. Specifically, we evaluated several scaling factors for an exponential range cutoff function. The function is based on the model's size as well as the environment density. In this experiment, participants rated "visual granularity" and "distraction" levels of the LOD technique over two Software Field-of-View (sFOV) conditions. A scaling factor of Beta = 3 was determined. Second, we ran a series of simulations to study the performance benefits of ProxyPrismLOD technique over the basic range-based LOD. We observed performance benefits up to 7.46% in terms of overall Frames-per-Seconds (FPS) on the models we tested. / Master of Science