Whereas, The United States Capitol Building has long been an iconic symbol of the American government and democracy worldwide. The building's design centers on the famous dome, designed by Thomas U. Walter, was completed during the American Civil War in 1863. Frederick Law Olmsted added a large terrace to the building as a part of his landscape in 1892. Olmsted's terrace was the last major addition to the Architecture of the Capitol Building and the icon of American government has been largely maintained since the turn of the 20th century, essentially frozen in time and symbolism. Yet the country has not been idle since the 1890's. The Capitol Building is a living symbol of American government and should therefore change with the American government. Whereas, One example of stalled symbols of change is the number of representatives in the House. This number, 435, has remained unchanged since 1913, despite the population more than tripling. The idea to expand the number of representatives gives the opportunity to update the House of Representatives for the modern era both structurally and architecturally through the addition of a new house chamber to the Capitol Building, just as Walter did over 150 years ago. Whereas, the Capitol Building represents a history of slavery, denied rights, and theft of Native lands and culture just as much as liberty, freedom, and self-determination of government. The lack of new construction means the Capitol has not been able to represent the last century of American history and progress from granting women the right to vote to its role in WWII to the rise of the internet, all monumentally important moments that changed the United States forever into a country and culture that deserves representation in our Capitol. Now, therefore be it resolved that this thesis proposes a new chamber for the House of Representatives to redefine the architecture of the Capitol Building and symbolize the century of history which has yet to be represented in the Capitol. The design process began with a detailed look into the history of the Capitol alongside the history of congress. The symbols embedded in the marble were products of their time, as were the laws and the representatives. Resolved that this project also questions the present and future of Congress. As much as the building serves as symbol and historical icon, it is also a working office building for the United States congress. Given the precipitous fall in congress' productivity over the past decades, the opportunity to provide a new building for the House also is an opportunity provide congress with a more functional space knowing their current chamber was built without electric lights. This new building aims to improve the capabilities of congress while being a symbol for the nation. Resolved that this thesis is about the idea of representing change. The nature of a democratic government is one of changing ideas and laws, and this project seeks to have the Capitol Building embody that aspect. Thomas Jefferson himself is known for saying rejecting change is like we "require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when he was a boy". Congress needs a new coat. / Master of Architecture / The United States Capitol Building has long been an iconic symbol of the American government and democracy worldwide. The building's design centers on the famous dome, designed by Thomas U. Walter, was completed during the American Civil War in 1863. Frederick Law Olmsted added a large terrace to the building as a part of his landscape in 1892. Olmsted's terrace was the last major addition to the Architecture of the Capitol Building and the building has been maintained to look mostly the same ever since. Despite this, the United States has had many major events since 1892 and the Capitol has not had any representation of those events. One example of stalled symbols of change is the number of representatives in the House. Since 1913, the House of Representatives in Congress has had 435 representatives, despite the population more than tripling since then. Many have had the idea to increase this number and expand the House. This idea gives an opportunity to design a new, larger chamber for the House to meet in. This thesis proposes a new chamber to redefine the architecture of the Capitol Building and symbolize the century of history which has yet to be represented in the Capitol. The idea of making a new expansion to the iconic Capitol Building comes with challenges. One of the most obvious is the strong classical architecture. The United States has gone through many difficult fights and changes since the current building was finished and it would seem disingenuous to build a new section in the same way as the old. At the same time, the history and symbolism of the Capitol is important and needs to be respected. This new extension must honor both histories and yet also look to the future and decide what the symbol of America for the next hundred years should be. Alongside these questions of symbolism is a very pragmatic reality: Congress isn't popular. Approval ratings have plummeted in recent decades and show no signs of improvement. This thesis was done amid historic turmoil and record lows in productivity in the House. This thesis also begs the question of whether the building that Congress meets in can be part of the solution. The House Chamber, when completed, had no electric lighting, let alone C-SPAN cameras and smart phones in every lawmaker's pocket. This new extension aims to provide Congress with a workplace designed to address the difficulties it faces in keeping itself in order. As a whole, this thesis is about the idea of representing change. The nature of a democratic government is one of changing ideas and laws, and this project seeks to have the Capitol Building embody that aspect. Thomas Jefferson himself is known for saying rejecting change is like we "require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when he was a boy". Congress needs a new coat.

DC United is one of Major League Soccer's most decorated franchises, yet it still plays its home games within the crumbling confines of RFK Stadium. This structure and the surrounding parking lots sit vacant for most of the year, though they occupy a prime site along the Anacostia River. In this project, I am proposing to incorporate a new metro station, transit hub and commercial development into the design of a stadium for DC United along the northern portion of the site. By providing services and amenities that do not currently exist in this part of the city, this endeavor could be a viable year-round resource for the community. / Master of Architecture

In 1972 the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) adopted a fair share plan for the purpose of allocating assisted housing among its sixteen member jurisdictions. The primary objectives of the plan were to avoid further undue concentrations of low and moderate income housing in the center of the area and to provide lower income families with housing opportunities in the area's suburban jurisdictions where many lower income jobs were being created. Reflecting these two objectives, both the original and revised formulas contained factors which served to allocate a large percentage of housing funds to those affluent suburban jurisdictions which had very little assisted housing. This skewed distribution, COG believed, would result in a balance of assisted housing throughout the area, resulting in increased potential mobility for the area's lower income. In spite of the plan's successful implementation, the potential mobility of the area’s lower income has not been greatly enhanced. The primary reason for this is the area's extremely high housing costs and the overwhelming need for assisted housing in all jurisdictions. Many of the area's moderate income families literally have been priced out of the housing market and must now compete with lower income families for the relatively scarce assisted housing. If the housing needs of the area's residents are ever to be met, and if fair share is to achieve the objectives for which it was designed, the area's moderate income families must once again become competitors in the housing market. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

Ramps are usually perceived as utilitarian objects emerging from standardized guidelines for architecture and landscape architecture. But closer examination reveals they can be quite beautiful and poetic. What we commonly call ramps, Galileo referred to as inclined planes, counting them as one of six classical simple machines in Le Meccaniche (On Mechanics) . Because inclined planes are actually static machines that do not require any energy to run. They do not discriminate among users. This thesis explores the work of the ramp in moving fragile loads, such as human beings. / Master of Landscape Architecture

The urban redevelopment of the last fifty years reshaped the entire Southwest quadrant (and much of the adjoining Southeast) of Washington, DC. By using a Modernist tabula rasa approach in their remaking, the architects of the redevelopment obliterated the quadrant's historical context, and left the Southwest without much of a discernible identity, other than a stylistic one. While it may be too late to recreate the neighborhood quality of old in this part of the city, it is possible to give it some sort of iconic structure which will be the first step in establishing a new identity for the area. A grand hotel along the Washington Channel could serve as the catalyst for such a change while providing service to the city. Such a hotel would take advantage of its location by allowing for access to the city by water, essentially serving as a point of arrival to Washington, similar to the way Union Station and National Airport serve travelers. The hotel would also cater to the transitory business and government populations of the city through an innovative room design. The end result would be the turning of a corner as the Southwest would once again redevelop itself, but this time with a more favorable outcome. / Master of Architecture

The stadium, in its purest form, is a structure that holds tiered seating arrangements built for mass viewing of sports, competitions, and public events. However, over the years, it has become much more than that. The stadium provides the spiritual need of community, allowing individuals to connect to others by sharing common beliefs and goals. This allows the stadium to become a source of civic pride to the people it serves. This combination of purpose and pride makes the stadium one of the most important archetypes ever created. It is the physical representation of human connectivity, a city's symbolic soul; the modern day cathedral. A symbiotic relationship is formed between the stadium and the public. In the modern era, viewing live sports has become big business. Taking advantage of the situation, team owners have designed stadiums to capitalize financially as much as possible. These newly designed stadiums, along with the rise of the automobile, have been moved from downtown to the suburbs, providing owners more space for seats, larger parking lots, and ultimately more revenue. These larger, disconnected stadiums have led to waning attendance, heavy pollution, and an overall lack of use. The once spiritual experience of the arena has now been watered down as the stadium has become a detractor of public good. Sports leagues now run as unopposed monopolies, with each major league having approximately 30 teams. With supply low and demand high, private entities essentially blackmail the public into building and funding stadiums to attract highly coveted sports teams. Desperately desiring to call a team their own, the public agrees to the deal. The end result is that the public funds a major project that provides no socioeconomic benefit to anyone other than the teams owner. The once symbiotic relationship between the stadium and the city has become perverted. Although public subsidies are now frowned upon due to the growing awareness of the damage they cause cities, the major sports leagues will always have a significant hold over the distribution of teams and demand will always remain high. Therefore, if the public continues to foot the bill, it is up to the architect to find a balance between both public and private benefits through design. We must create a stadium that functions as a revenue generating event venue, as well as a public serving entity that enriches the community around it and repair the once great harmony between the public and their stadium. My Thesis will look at designing a public soccer stadium in downtown Washington D.C. This is Public Gains: A Stadium for the People. / Master of Architecture

M.S.

The changes in technology and cultures of mobility within dense North American cities have resulted in a space that intervenes between one thing and another which often generates seemingly uninhabitable zones and problematic discontinuities in the physical and social fabric. Over time, the pattern of cities has changed; movement spaces have fractured the social spaces. The social dimension in the design of movement spaces has been neglected and thus these spaces have primarily become products of the functional dimension, i.e. traffic flow, circulation, and access for vehicles. These approaches to developments and prioritizing the movement space over the social space have contributed to the creation of fractured people spaces in between the fabric of cities. This thesis proposes to reconnect the broken fabric of cities that are shaped as result of the juxtaposition of movement infrastructure. Furthermore, the research studies the methods by which such spaces can become transformed into successful people place through literature review of what constitutes a successful urban space. Case studies of successful places adjacent to roads, waterfronts, and in between the fabric of cities were studied to understand the methods by which underused, and fractured spaces were transformed to successful urban places. This thesis further implements the methods of place making into creating the new physical, visual, cognitive, and ecological connection between the fractured spaces. / Master of Landscape Architecture

This thesis proposes a museum of Eastern art in Washington, D. C. The purpose is to establish a gallery where not only Americans, but also the peoples of other countries throughout the world will have the opportunity to enjoy or to do research in Eastern art and culture. Eastern concepts are used to express what is space in architecture, instead of imitating the Eastern traditional architectural form. On the other hand, the abstract essence of all elements is used for composition. A prestressed and precast concrete structural system is to be used to build a unity of space as raw material. Thus, the whole building may become a space sculpture. For space functions and arrangements, a center court is provided as the core of the whole project. A surrounding water area can be used for protection and reflection of the building on the water. This project is to be conceived not only as the totality of building and exhibition, but also as unifying environment for art objects and the observers as well. / Master of Architecture

I guess my concern is for building. This thesis became a search for form. It did not start that way. The start was a search for reasons, for methods, for a way. It was, however, the pursuit of an understanding of the essence of an object that proved the most rewarding. How l design has come from investigating WHAT I design. The thesis has not left me with answers, but with questions. And what are those questions? The thing: The thing as OBJECT: it seems to boil down to - how is it made? The thing as EVENT: it seems to boil down to - what is it like to be there? The thing as DESIGNED: it seems to boil down to what do I want its nature to be? What will inform my forms? / Master of Architecture