The nature of Architecture, as it could exist at the edge of a river, was investigated through the design of a Center for Performing Arts located on the design of a Center for Performing Arts located on the Potomac River. Site analysis, functional requirements and structural feasibility were among the considerations utilized in arriving at the proposed design. The Center is comprised of three theaters, restaurants, a marina, administration offices, guest suites, and their ancillary spaces. Six stair towers support a thick wall which is situated at the river’s edge. Stage areas for the theatres were located within the wall between pairs of towers, with seating on one side of the wall and backstage areas on the other. A serpentine “riverwalk” connects the towers and four plazas, encouraging public use of the river’s edge. Parking is provided by a crescent-shaped garage which also serves as a buffer to the adjacent expressway traffic. / Master of Architecture

When contemplating the history of religious architecture several typologies become apparent. There is the refinement of Gothic cathedrals where the volume and use of material not only reinforced the liturgy but gave breath to a tempo of chant. There also is the small New England chapel steeple and modest gable which provide such a compelling image that it has become an icon in American culture. This thesis explores the design of a sacred space independent of traditional symbolism. Rather than attempting to refine an existing typology this design explored what is fundamental in creating a sacred space. A church for a congregation of Spiritualists, who currently are renovating a Methodist church in Georgetown. [2] This design is centered on a few elements. In response to Spiritualist liturgy which is devoid of an altar there is an exploration of defining void thus creating a focal point by the enclosure of space. The importance of views is emphasized, expressly views to sacred areas that are not actually touched. Layering of transparency is explored which provides a vehicle for information between discrete areas. / Master of Architecture

A building that lives in the mind of the people and gives them a sense of belonging. It is the memory of the town. / Master of Architecture

Architecture is experience. Man experiences the Architecture within which he lives, works, plays and worships. As a necessity this experience must include a successful response to the needs of its inhabitants in order to fulfill its stated and intended purposes. In this sense man experiences his Architecture in the physical realm of its existence. Yet Architecture is an experience of the spirit. Architecture, through its presence, must elevate man, beyond the physical sense, and strive to glorify the inner being. In the opening section of this thesis I will briefly examine a few ancient ruins in an effort to explore the spiritual nature of Architecture. Following this exploration I will then move into the design portion of the thesis. The project is a theological library and scholar’s complex located on Roosevelt Island in the Potomac River. / Master of Architecture

Master of Architecture

In designing a National Museum for the Imaging Arts, a dual obligation is created. It is to provide an intimate place for the cherishing of manifestations of the individual, while also creating, at the scale of the nation, a symbol of the civilization. Architecture accepts this obligation through the hierarchical scaling of the referents of order, material, space, and light. / Master of Architecture

In this thesis, I seek to analyse the reproduction of elite mobilities through participation in Study Internship Programmes (SIP) in Washington D.C. SIPs are programmes for both American as well as international students that come to Washington and participate in a programme that combines an academic track on specific topics with an internship. These programmes can be seen as exemplars of a specialised form of neoliberal education in which middle-class students attempt to acquire mobility capital in the hope of accelerating their future careers. With the help of in-depth interviews and ethnographic methods, I have gathered data about the SIPs which were analysed via textual analysis. I conducted interviews with SIP-alumni, with current SIP-students as well as stakeholders in these programmes. As a theoretical framework, I have utilised a mobilities perspective, along with ideas on individualisation and cosmopolitan capital to develop a framework for study-internship research. I argue that students go to Washington to acquire mobility and cosmopolitan capital, as this might offer a competitive edge. I explore how SIPs affect and transform its participants, their career paths and mobilities, as well as the city of Washington D.C itself as a place. My research showcases the layered identities of the participants through their mobilities, and how their mobilities are connected to the city of Washington D.C., and the key institutions involved. The research also demonstrates that SIPs are indicative of broader career patterns and mobility decision-making among young people in the West. Furthermore, my research indicates how integral the images of Washington D.C. and career-narratives are to the reproduction of elites and to Washington D.C.'s image of power for the SIP-participants to represent their success and aspirations.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: James E. Pizzuto, Dept. of Geological Sciences. Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation is an exploration of Charles Bird King’s Gallery of Paintings. The Gallery opened in 1824 and, aside from a brief hiatus in the mid-1840s, was open to the public through the end of the antebellum era. King, who trained in London at the Royal Academy and under the supervision of Benjamin West, presented to his visitors a diverse display that encompassed portraits, genre scenes, still lifes, trompe l’oeils and history paintings. Though the majority of the paintings on display were his original works across these various genres, at least one third of the collection was made up of copies after the works of European masters as well as after the American portraitist Gilbert Stuart. This study is divided into four chapters. In the first, I explore late-colonial and early-republic public displays of the visual arts. My analysis demonstrates that King’s Gallery was in step with a tradition of viewing that stretched back to John Smibert’s Boston studio in the mid-eighteenth century and created a visual continuity into the mid-nineteenth century. In a second chapter, focused on portraiture, I examine what it meant to King and to his visitors to be “American.” The group of men and women King displayed in his Gallery was far more diverse than typical for the time period. King included many prominent politicians, but no American President after John Quincy Adams (whom King had painted before Adams’ election). Instead he featured portraits of many men of commerce as well as prominent women and numerous American Indians. In the third chapter, I look at a group of King’s original compositions, genre paintings. King’s style in this category was clearly indebted to seventeenth-century Dutch tradition as filtered through an eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century British lens, in particular the works of Sir David Wilkie. My final chapter continues the exploration of Dutch influences over King’s work. These paintings draw together the themes of King’s sense of humor, his attitudes towards patronage and his methods of circumventing inadequate patronage through the establishment of the Gallery. Finally, they prompt us to reconsider the importance of European precedents in our understanding of how artists and viewers worked together to establish an American visual cultural dialogue. / text

As a means of promoting “smart growth” in the United States, Transit-Oriented Development has become a significant strategy for planners to solve urban problems. Most researches and studies discuss transit-oriented development on a single node level, which created some barriers during the implementation process. This report demonstrates transit-oriented development on a corridor level to optimize its benefits. Three case studies, which are in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area, San Francisco Bay Area and Dallas Region, are used to illustrate different typologies of transit-oriented development corridors and to analyze significant planning principles for transit-oriented development at a regional or sub-regional level. / text