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A house composed of two bedrooms and two bathrooms sits in a landscape of towering pine trees, lush orange groves, and tall grasses. Approaching from the west, a stepped lava tock garden wall protects the terraces of gravel and grass that bound and hold the concrete walls of the house. Within these wall an architectural game of turning, pushing, pulling, and shifting begging to play out; found in the shadows of a corner, in the depths of a break, in the repetition of a joint. / Master of Architecture

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This thesis is a proposed house located at Smithfield, a property that has been in the Smith family for over two centuries. Located in Russell County, Virginia, the land has a rich history, and the design of the house addresses the historical significance of the site. The house reflects both the past and the present. While the house is rooted in early regional building traditions, the proposed house is modern in the use of materials and details. The final design reflects the historical context of the site and region while incorporating modern concepts of how we live today. / Master of Architecture / This thesis is a proposed house located at Smithfield, a property that has been in my family for over two centuries. It is based on the regional architecture of Southwest Virginia and our family's history and ties to the land. While the house is rooted in early regional building traditions, the proposed house is modern in the use of materials and details. Like what has come and gone before us, the house is not meant to stand forever, but become a living memory to our family.

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In film and still photography, depth of field control is often employed to control viewer interest in an image. This technique is also used in computer animation, but, in a medium where artists have near infinite control, must we rely on replicating photorealism? This research is a viable, non-photorealistic solution to the problem of directing viewer interest. Vision is directed by reducing superfluous visual information from parts of the image, which do not directly affect the depictive meaning of that image. This concept is applied to images and animations rendered from three-dimensional, computergenerated scenes, where detail is defined as visual information pertaining to the surface properties of a given object. A system is developed to demonstrate this concept. The system uses distance from a user-defined origin as the main mechanism to modulate detail. This solution is implemented within a modeling and shading environment to serve as a non-photorealistic, functional alternative for depth of field. This approach is conceptually based on a model of human vision, specifically, the relationship between foveal and peripheral vision, and is artistically driven by various works in the disciplines of painting and illustration, that through the careful manipulation of detail, control interest and understanding within the image. The resulting images and animations produced by this system provide viable evidence that detail modulation can be used to control effectively viewer interest in an image eliminating the need to use photographic techniques like depth of field.

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Almost every New England town with colonial roots has a manicured Main Street, or some thoroughfare that is meticulously cared for in attempt to preserve and display its history through its architecture. Buildings range in age from as old as the town to as new as yesterday. However, in most cases, Main Street is not a true reflection of the complete history of a town. After a certain point in time, it was no longer acceptable to build in a manner reflective of the current conditions. If a new building was to be erected, only eclectic adaptations of past styles were deemed suitable, to achieve scenographic coherence. Resultantly, any significant truth to Main Street's architecture ceased to develop. A true reflection of the actual societal institution as manifested through the architecture of the town was lost. It is this loss that I refer to as "truth". This thesis is about finding, and restoring, truth through the design of a new house on Main Street in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Glastonbury is a town full of colonial history, with more than 150 houses built before 1800, many of which exist on Main Street. The design for this house is not a direct condemnation of historic eclecticism; rather, it is an attempt to demonstrate how a house can be designed to reflect the true connection between time and place in the institution of "the house". The design acknowledges history through proportion, form, and scale, and it admits contemporary values through abstraction of details, use of materials, and organization of space. The product is a statement about how to design a house that comprehensively and truthfully reflects the spirit of its setting. / Master of Architecture

My architectural thesis began with a desire to investigate the relationship between old and new in architecture. Each city has a history of its own, with old structures and new structures that are in constant dialogue, perhaps directly next to or within one another. The questions that arise from this dialogue captivated me to investigate what my own architectural response would be in such a context. I looked to the architectural joint at various scales, from the parti at the scale of the city, to the point where your hand makes contact with the building. The study of the detail provided an opportunity to heighten the architectural experience and capture a moment that would show the true nature of time. I searched my architectural imagination for answers (and more questions) through the scope of a proposed renovation and addition to an existing duplex structure located in the Le Droit Park neighborhood in NW Washington, DC. The program is a residence, studio, and gallery for a professional potter. / Master of Architecture