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The growth in cities has sparked an increase in the cost of living, making it harder for local residents and families to remain in the city. In Washington DC, the gentrification of neighborhoods and lack of affordable housing is causing low-income residents to be displaced and forcing them to look elsewhere for affordable options. The DC neighborhood, Navy Yard, saw one of the most intense displacements of low-income residents. My thesis asks the question: can architecture and its design sustain the primary function of housing but also create a positive long-lasting effect on the occupants' wellbeing? In navigating that question, my thesis explores how human-centered design provides sustainable housing options for low-income residents while also supporting and strengthening the already existing communities within the city. The building, designed for single-parents with children, serves as a space of refuge and community despite the loneliness and isolation that can come with living in a city. All the individual spaces create a building that understands the needs of its occupants, and re-defines how affordable housing should be designed.The private amenities, used exclusively by its occupants, positively adds to their everyday comfort and serves as a place of gathering for those living in the building. The public spaces included in the building address the needs of the neighborhood and provide support to the surrounding residents as well. This project was designed to create spaces that improve the occupants mental and physical health, and design an infrastructure that will affordably sustain itself for years to come. Incorporating biophilic and human-centric design allows the focus to shift from simply creating housing to also investing in the quality of life of our residents. / Master of Architecture / The growth in cities and rise in the cost of living, has made it harder for local residents and families to continue living in the city. In Washington DC, the development of neighborhoods and lack of affordable housing is forcing low-income residents to move and look elsewhere for affordable options. My thesis asks the question: can affordable housing be more than just a place of refuge, but can it also improve the residents wellbeing and strengthen the surrounding community. The design of this building focuses on the importance and the effect that a healthy building and a strong community can have on a single-parent and their child. Each space within the building was designed with the families in mind and the value it brings to their wellbeing. The private spaces gives the residents a support system and a space to gather. The public spaces included in the building provide support to the neighborhood and allows for the entire community to interact. Using my research and by incorporating design elements that are scientifically-proven to have positive benefits to the residents mental and physical health, a building is created that adds value to the residents everyday life. The goal is to design spaces that improve the occupants mental and physical health, and design a building that creates a community within and with the surrounding neighborhood. With the resident's health and wellness in the center of the design, my building shifts the focus from simply creating housing to also investing in the quality of life of our residents.

What does it mean to truly dwell within a city marked by the cycles of political turnover? How does one carve out for himself a unique sense of belonging in a city with such a grand history? Martin Heidegger suggests that in building "nests" for ourselves, we begin to build our lives. We build our own stories into the traditions and myths of a place. This thesis proposes four unique stories, or four dwelling typologies, stitched together by a common alley site. Each dwelling typology finds its primary expression in one of the Four Classical Elements — Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. The four are intended to be read as distinct artifacts within the urban fabric of Washington, D.C., yet also as siblings of the same architectural family. The four dwelling typologies include (1) a studio for an artist, (2) a residence above a small business, (3) loft apartments and (4) a boutique hotel. Each occupies an infill site along the District of Colombia's historic Blagden Alley. / Master of Architecture

The connection between our body and mind is integral in the way we perceive and relate to the world that exists around us. Our perceptions and emotional responses to those spaces can influence and become a powerful tool for design. In turn, architecture can encourage active and mindfullness in a person's everyday life. The architectural project is a mixed-use development consisting of a multi-family residence, hotel, coffee shop, and spa located off of 14th Street in the Columbia Heights neighborhood in Washington DC. The program provides spaces for dwelling, both temporary and permanent, to encourage both physical and psychological wellness. / Master of Architecture

The notion of good living when related to habitation is, particularly in the United States, often associated with houses or apartments of large square footage. This demand for large spaces leads to compromises in architectural integrity and construction quality. In an architectural sense, good living is not directly related to the quantity of space. In this thesis, I argue that spatial quantity does not necessarily improve people's lives. Additionally, an excess of space often leads to investments in superficial conventions and products which can be associated with a consumer driven iconic representation of good living. At closer examination, most of these goods and products are disconnected from the most essential qualities of life and contribute little to the quality of our human relations. From an environmental standpoint, large under-used spaces require a larger footprint, i.e. larger parcels of land, with a greater consumption of construction materials and increased maintenance and energy demands over the extended "life" of a house. In this thesis work I will attempt to search for unique and substantial qualities within a house that is designed to be of a very small square footage. The design philosophy for A Very Small House has, at its core, only the most essential qualities of domestic space. For the personal life of the inhabitant: a refined place to cook, a refined place to bathe, a refined place to sleep. For the life of the inhabitant as a member of a family or a community: a refined place to gather and a refined place to extend. I use the word refined in this context to mean: very subtle, precise, or exact. A means of ennobling an act or a space / Master of Architecture

"When the immediate vicinity is neither visible nor audible, the city apartment integrated into the urban fabric can be far more luxurious than the detached country home, provided both alternatives offer identical, house-like qualities of living: in the interior and at the transition to the appropriate exterior space - a small yard, a winter garden or a roof patio... ...the decision to opt for home ownership beyond the city boundaries, a voluntary choice it would seem, is in truth a flight from the insufficient housing options in the city, and less a rejection of the city as a place to live." Klaus-Dieter Weiss / Master of Architecture

The master's thesis focuses on a topic which lies on the intersection of civil law procedure and constitutional law. The chosen type of execution proceedings is looked at through the lens of constitutional law with specific focus on dwelling and inviolability of the home, which are interfered with by specific steps of the execution sale of movable property. The aim of the thesis is to bring forth an analysis of the topic from an unusual perspective, and therein answer several research questions, especially to lay out specific (impermissible) interferences with the inviolability of the dwelling within execution proceedings with the goal of highlighting inviolability of the home as a value embodied in the constitutional system of the Czech Republic. The thesis is divided into two parts and only the conjunction of these parts forms a unique whole. The first part focuses on execution sale of movable items. Firstly, it gives an overview of the execution proceedings and clarifies the purpose and goals of the court executors. In the following chapter the thesis looks at the distraining enforcer as a person in direct contact with the debtors and third parties during his on-the-spot operations for the purpose of execution proceedings. The text then shifts its focus to specific aspects of execution sale of...

<p>U radu se detaljno istražuju odnosi između funkcije i forme savre-<br />menog stana, kao i promene kroz koje prolazi. Istraživanje je zasnova-<br />no na razumevanju pojmova stana i doma kroz različite diskurse.<br />Multidisciplinarnim pristupom uspostavljene su mnoge istražene<br />veze između životnih stilova i savremenih informacionih i komuni-<br />kacionih tehnologija, koje utiču na promenu koncepta stanovanja i stva-<br />ranje mnoštva različitih atmosfera stana. Ovo mnoštvo je u radu<br />korišćeno ne samo kao metodološko načelo, već je posmatrano i kao<br />materijalno mnoštvo različitih oblika stanovanja koje treba prepo-<br />znati kroz diskurse o stanovanju. Promišljanjem ove pojave shvata se<br />da su singularnosti (npr. stambena jedinica) istovremeno i mnoštva,<br />odnosno da je svaki stan uvek jedno konkretno postojanje, kroz koje<br />struji (a pogotovo danas) mnoštvo arhitektonskih diskursa.</p> / <p>This thesis explores in detail the relationships between function and form of<br />contemporary dwelling, as well as the changes it goes through. It is based on<br />understanding the notions of the dwelling and home through different<br />discourses. Multidisciplinary approach established many explored connections<br />between life styles and contemporary Information and Communication<br />Technologies, which affect the change of the concept of a dwelling and<br />creation of many different atmospheres within a dwelling. This multitude is<br />used here as the methodological principle but is also observed as the<br />material myriad of different forms of housing that should be recognized<br />through discourses on dwelling. Reflecting on this phenomenon it is recognized<br />that singularities (i.e. dwelling unit) are also multitudes at the same<br />time, therefore every dwelling is always one concrete existence that has<br />many architectural discourses streaming through it, especially today.</p>

Student Number : 0210329K - MSc research report - School of Construction Economics and Management - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / The government of Lesotho is experiencing a rapid rate of dilapidation of its dwelling houses, and if this goes unabated, the government will lose even more in terms of the expenditure on maintenance and repair, and eventually the houses themselves, thereby losing a good asset base. The research considers the possible causes of the rapid rate of dilapidation of the Lesotho government dwelling houses. It draws attention to the level of effectiveness of the property management structure and or framework of the Lesotho government. Further it considers the possible overall effects of the current continued dilapidation on the management of the property assets by the Lesotho government. The research draws attention to the present system of property management practiced by the government, and compares it with that of the private sector, considers the ways in which the government may have to adapt, and suggests that while the government dwelling houses are neglected in terms of maintenance, there will be some countervailing opportunities for a more effective strategic use of the property asset. A number of respondents drawn from the private sector, two government departments, and the housing occupants, were interviewed using administered and self-administered questionnaires for this research. The hypotheses ‘that efficient property asset management is significantly dependent on a good property management framework/structure’ and ‘that there is a correlation between the declining property values and the level of rentals payable to the Lesotho government’ were confirmed. This is seen in the fact that the Lesotho property management structure lacks the capacity to manage their pool of available housing structure. Moreover, that the kind of expertise available is not fitting to be able to manage the government houses. The Lesotho government lacks the required expertise for the management of its housing assets, and this has led to a rapid dilapidation of the housing stock for the inadequacy in management resulted in poor maintenance of the housing stock, as the management failed to identify key issues in property management. 3 Keywords: Property Dilapidation, Maintenance, Dwelling houses, Government Property Management.