Regional architecture defines a type of architecture that adapts to the everyday needs of a people and is constructed by the building methods and materials of the region. Regions do not have clear boundaries, but are largely defined by the conditions of nature: climate, soil, topography, vegetation, water. Through this thesis project I have tried to create a regional architecture in Indianapolis, Indiana that embraces the surrounding context, but does not imitate the architecture of the past, through a mixed-use building for everyday life. / Master of Architecture

If a city is to undergo a re-birth then why not start from the beginning of life: childhood. This project explores the place of the child in the city and how a re-urbanizing area can benefit from the presence of the child. The thesis also looks at the home and what makes a good urban dwelling for a family. The program for the thesis evolved as a reaction to these queries as a mixed use urban center that brings together family residence towers with private yards, and a school that incorporates day care and teaches pre-school through fifth grade. / Master of Architecture

The middle landscape, more commonly referred to as Suburbia, has become spatially discontinuous, lacking the cohesive union, open spaces and city centers that once defined community. Presently, the middle landscape's community spaces do not offer the opportunity for familiar and chance encounters or ritual activity. Large-scale housing development in Northern Virginia and in the mid-Atlantic region is continually segregating and ultimately destroying community and all links to the area's history. Located in Southern Fairfax County, the newly abandoned Lorton Central and Maximum Security Prison Facility provides an opportunity to serve as a catalyst for community in this area. This thesis investigates the historic precedence for creating successful community centers. The author's personal investigation is focused upon using form and function to accomplish this vision. By adaptively reusing the existing architecture alongside new construction, the intent is to create a dense urban town center at the abandoned historic site. / Master of Landscape Architecture

published_or_final_version / Urban Design / Master / Master of Urban Design

Denna studie handlar primärt om social hållbarhet som är ett stort och omfattande begrepp. I dagens stadsplanering används begreppet i ett bredare perspektiv. Studien har som syfte att fokusera mer ingripande på social hållbarhet för enskilda multifunktionella byggnader, genom att samla in kunskap om ämnet och belysa innebörden. De valda multifunktionella byggnaderna är Icon i Växjö och Spektrum i Göteborg. Syftet med denna studie är att genom forskning och utvärdering konkretisera människans dagliga behov och hur de kan tillgodoses i en multifunktionell byggnad samt dess bidragande roll för ett socialt hållbart kvarter. Målet är att få en tydligare uppfattning om vilken påverkan den multifunktionella byggnaden har på ett kvarter. Genom utformning och tillämpning av ett verktyg som tagits fram inom ramen för den aktuella studien skall byggnadens sociala hållbarhet kunna utvärderas utifrån människans vardagliga liv, behov och intressen.  Intervjuer med ansvariga projektledare, arkitekter, handledare och sakkunniga har tillsammans med insamling av vetenskapliga rapporter, studiebesök, enkät och observationer varit centrala tillvägagångssätt för studien. Att arbeta mot en mer blandad bebyggelsemiljö och byggnader som har olika verksamheter som samsas är idag alltmer förekommande för att uppnå ett livligare och trevligare stadsrum. Utifrån studiens utformade verktyg har respektive multifunktionell byggnad fått olika sociala poäng som baseras på storlek, verksamheter, tillgänglighet och multifunktionalitet. Studien visar att respektive multifunktionell byggnad har givit mervärde till sitt område. / This study focuses primarily on social sustainability, which is a large and comprehensive concept. In today's urban planning, social sustainability is used on a broader perspective. The study aims to focus more on the concept for individual multifunctional buildings by gathering knowledge about the subject and highlight the meaning. The chosen multifunctional buildings are Icon in Växjö and Spektrum in Gothenburg. The purpose of this study is, through research and evaluation, to concretize people's daily needs and how they can be met in a multifunctional building and its contribution to a socially sustainable neighbourhood. The goal is to get a better understanding of which impact the multifunctional building has on its block. The goal is also designing and application of a tool developed in the context of the current study and to use this tool to evaluate the building's social sustainability based on people's everyday lives, needs and interests. Interviews with responsible project managers, architects, supervisors and other experts, together with the gathering of scientific reports, study visits, questionnaires and observations, has been the studies central approach. Working towards a more mixed urban environment and buildings that have different operation that are combined is nowadays increasingly common for a livelier and more enjoyable urban space. Based on the study´s designed tool, each multifunctional building has received different social points that depends on size, operations, availability and multifunctionality. The study shows that each multifunctional building has added value to its area.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Timothy D. Keane / The fundamental purpose of this project, a suburban infill endeavor in southern Overland Park, Kansas, is to create connections on a number of levels and scales through the implementation of traditional neighborhood design principles within the context of the natural and man-made conditions affecting the site. Beginning at the smallest scale, the project examines what kinds of conditions are best suited for connecting people to one another within the site itself in terms of circulation networks, outdoor public spaces, civic uses, and the relationships of buildings and blocks. On a larger scale, the project explores methods for creating connections between the site and the wider community, both locally and regionally, through the integration of trail systems, land uses, and road networks. It also examines the principles for designing a mixed-use component intended to draw people from a wide geographic area and to serve as a center of activity for residents and visitors alike because of its distinctive qualities. Finally, the project examines principles for creating connections between people and the natural environment through the preservation of existing stream corridors, drainage channels, and woodlands and the restoration of the prairie systems that once characterized the land. Instead of sitting in isolation and addressing only the needs of its own residents while turning its back on adjacent land uses and the wider community, the project utilizes a design that directly engages that community through the full integration of its program elements. Traditional neighborhood design principles are therefore best applied not as a formula but rather as a flexible framework for the design components that define the form of the project. Ultimately the project seeks to achieve its goals and objectives not by simply replicating previous efforts but by developing and applying its own creative design solutions.

This study is a deductive quantitative analysis of perceptions of sustainable functions within a cross section of Swedish municipalities. It builds upon the United Nations Human Settlement Program (UN-HABITAT 2013) and their argument that the narrow focus upon economic growth have been given too much attention compared to the social and environmental pillars in the planning and creation and development of sustainable settlements. Therefore this report focuses on the social and environmental pillars of the sustainability concept and finds a clear relationship between the two and how the inhabitants of Swedish municipalities values their locations as places to live in. The study is conducted by a applying a quantitative approach on survey data from Statistics Sweden (2015), by creating variables which correspond to socially and environmentally sustainable urban planning theory and authors such as Healey, Masnavi, Habermas, UN-HABITAT, Brantz, Bramley and Power and many more. What comes out as most important is Citizen Participation***, Public Space***, Diversity*** and Public transportation*** which all increase the level of Municipal citizen satisfaction both with and without controlling for Education possibilities* (which also have a positive significant effect), Large city regions (City 50**) (also significant positive effect) with hinterlands and Unemployment rates*** (with a quite obvious significant negative effect). What stands out in the controlled model is that all coefficients decrease, except for Diversity*** which increase, indicating the importance of local services, shops, culture and recreation when other primary needs are covered. Note: Throughout the thesis:  *, **, ** indicate significance 0.1, 0.05. 0.01.

Availability of good housing may no longer be an important issue for most U.S. citizens. Nowadays most are well housed and the problems confronting those who are not- except in the case of the homeless- are not highly visible. During the last decade, old warehouses in downtown Richmond, Virginia have been converted to new uses as restaurants, apartments, and offices. This reuse of old buildings has brought more people to the downtown area, making streets safer for pedestrians and residents than when the areas were abandoned. However, these well-designed and newly renovated apartments are not for everyone, especially low and moderate-income households because of the high rental costs.This thesis design provides a model for enhancing the character and diversity of low-income-family housing by transforming an abandoned urban structure in downtown Richmond into a holistic living environment.

Being "deaf" is defined as the inability to hear, but it can also be defined as a culture centered around sensibilities and shared life experiences. This endeavor seeks to integrate the hearing-impaired and hearing communities through the application of "Deaf Space" and other design theories. The result is an inspiring, empowering, and lively solution.

Mixed-use neighborhoods, which feature increased housing/job variety and density, can create pedestrian and bicycle-friendly environments by reducing dependency on vehicles and traffic congestion, and shortening distances between housing, workplaces and other destinations. Municipal regulations are vital to modern mixed-use developments due to their capability to control the direction of metropolitan growth. In this research, I have attempted to make a correlation between local regulations and current neighborhood development patterns in three well known, mixed-use neighborhoods using the case study approach. Three mixed-use neighborhoods, the North Pearl District (NPD; Portland, Oregon), South Lake Union (SLU; Seattle, Washington) and False Creek North (FCN; Vancouver, Canada), were chosen for this case study research. I examined and visualized the local regulations that pertain to mixed-use development of each neighborhood using Illustrator and SketchUp. I also analyzed and discussed U.S. Census information, including households per acre, average household size and household vehicle occupancy. The investigation indicates that among the three neighborhoods, the mixed-use regulations of FCN are the most straightforward and clear. This is reflected in the consistency between regulations and current land uses. The overall mixed degree in NPD is relatively large likely due to its incentive regulations, making itself as a highly walkable neighborhood. The local regulations in SLU are the most complicated, and focus on attracting innovative firms. In conclusion, we have conducted a study to investigate the development of mixed-use neighborhoods by scrutinizing local regulations and analyzing current situations and statistical data. The results indicated that the straightforward and incentive regulations, such as legalized neighborhood land use plan and bonus floor area ratios, benefit the mixed-use developments of neighborhoods by increasing the efficiency in land use and maximizing the mixed-use degree, thus leading to a compact, walkable and vital community. / text