Scott Proudfoot
Of
the
thesis
entitled: Reconstruction
Site
| Re-designing the
disposable
Expo
Abstract:
Building,
supported
by
the
practice
of
architecture,
is
churning
resources
into
waste
at
an
alarming
rate.
Our
method
of
construction
has
its
inevitable
conclusion
in
a
pile
of
rubble.
Lamentably,
the
natural
resources
we
build
with
are
finite,
and our
exploitation
of
these
has
nearly
reached
its
peak.
As
humanity
strives
for
a
renewable
energy
future,
architecture
must
engage
in
the
renewable
use
of
materials.
In
the
long
term
future,
architects
need
to
design
buildings
so
their
materials can
be
recovered,
refurbished
and
reused.
Principles
for
designing
in
circular life
cycles
were
laid
out
by
McDonough
and
Braungart
in
their
2002
book,
Cradle to
Cradle.[1] In
more
than
a decade
since the
book
was
published,
there
is
little
evidence
that
the
process
of architecture
has
changed
to
support
design
for
disassembly
and
the
reuse
of materials.
This
thesis
aims
to
outline
a
method
of
design
for
material
reuse that
supports
a
healthy
circular
flow
of material
life,
death
and
rebirth.
World
Expositions
have
become
the
epitome
of
disposable
architecture,
with renowned
architects
designing
pavilions
with
an
intended
life
span
of
six months.
This
thesis
proposes
a
transformation
of
the
Expo
type
from
an
endgame of
waste
to
one
of
reuse.
A contemplated
Expo
Toronto
in
2025
provides
the opportunity
to
reclaim
a
reputation
for
showcasing
the
future.
The
proposed brief
for
such
an
Expo
challenges
countries
to
exhibit
stories
of
regeneration in
an
event
built
on
the
theme
of
reuse
and
recycling.
The
Expo
is an
ideal venue
for
the
design
of
prototype
pavilions
assembled
out
of
renewable
and reusable
materials.
This
thesis
proposes
two
pavilion
types,
which
at
the Expo’s
conclusion
will
be
immediately
reused
in
communities
across
Canada.
The first
type
is
designed
to
be entirely
recycled
when
it
is
no
longer
needed.
The second
pavilion
type
is
assembled
of
material
which
can
be
composted,
returning nutrients
to
the
soil.
The
resulting
buildings
will
be
adaptable
to
change,
reusable in
parts,
and
return
their
materials
to
circular
flows
at end
of
life.
[1]. William McDonough
and
Michael
Braungart, Cradle
to
Cradle
:
Remaking
the
Way We
Make
Things (New
York:
North
Point
Press,
2002),
166.
| Supervisor: | Terri Boake, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Member: | Jane Hutton, University of Waterloo |
| Internal Reader: | Val Rynnimeri, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Paul Dowsett, Sustainable TO |
The committee has been approved as authorized by the Graduate Studies Committee.
The Defence Examination will take place:
Thursday, January 5, 2017 1:00PM ARC 2008
A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.
Snehanjali Sumanth
Of
the
thesis
entitled: Submechanophilia
Abstract:
Twenty-three federal
offshore
oil
platforms
line
the
coast
of
Southern
California
for approximately
200
miles
from
Point
Conepcion,
Santa
Barbara
County
to Huntington
Beach,
Oxford
County.
Installed
from1968
to
1989,
they
are
some
of the
oldest
platforms
in
the world
and
currently
face
the
process
of
complete decommissioning
after
having
consumed
the
site’s
200-million-year-old
reserves in
just
over
a
century.
The
site
holds
a
heavy
history
with
oil;
from
one
of the
world’s
first
offshore
oil
wells
in
1896,
to
large
and catastrophic
oil spills,
to
present
day,
with
unregulated
offshore
fracking.
However,
beneath
the
surface
of
the
water,
their
metal
lattice
structure that
anchors
them
to
the
earth
is
covered
in
a
thick
layer
of
life,
as
they have
grown
into
dense
micro-habitats
that
support
an
entire
food
cycle
-
from deep
sea
invertebrates
to
fish
and
large
mammals. The
site
composes
the
first half
of
the
Southern
California
Bight,
a
zone
on
the
coastal
shelf
that
is
rich in
ecological
diversity.
Here,
complex
offshore
winds
and
eddies
twist
larvae, nutrients,
and
plankton
to
the
platforms,
initiating
the
growth
of
life.
The question
of
the preservation
of
life
on
the
platforms
has
placed
a
doubt
in
the process
of
decommissioning,
with
many
stakeholders
speculating
on
keeping
the platforms
in
place
with
a
future
use.
Inspired
by
contemporary
French
sociologist
Bruno
Latour’s
spirit
of inclusivity
and
collectivity
amongst
the
sciences,
this
thesis
proposes
the reuse
of
oil
platforms
as
centres
of
scientific
and
field
research,
inviting the
sciences
to
re-enter
the
site
as
a
collective
whose intention
is
to
study and
cohabitate
with
the
site’s
ecology.
Gathering
the
sciences
that
maintain
an interest
in
the
site,
the
design
aims
to
engage
with
site’s
assembly
of
human and
non-human
forces
and
immerse
into
the
forces
of
energy,
matter
and
life.
| Supervisor: | Adrian Blackwell, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: | Anne Bordeleau, University of Waterloo |
| Dereck Revington, University of Waterloo | |
| External Reader: | Joyce Hwang, University at Buffalo |
The committee has been approved as authorized by the Graduate Studies Committee.
The Defence Examination will take place:
Wednesday, January 11, 2017 10:30AM ARC Loft
A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.
Marieh Dialameh
Of
the
thesis
entitled: PORTABLE
POST-DISASTER
HOME
Providing
a long-term
temporary
solution
for
the
displaced
people
affected
by
natural disasters
Abstract:
According
to
the
United
Nations statistics,
since
2008,
an
average
of
26.4
million
people
have
been
displaced per
year
because
of
natural
disasters.
In
other
words,
one
person
loses
his/her home
every
second.
This
is
while
these
figures do
not
even
include
the
number of
people
who
have
become
homeless
or
are
forced
into
living
in
terrible conditions
because
of
wars
and
violence,
or
other
issues
such
as
financial difficulties.
Sadly,
the
number
of
displaced
people
are increasing
every
year; this
is
while
so
many
critical
issues
such
as
lack
or
shortage
of
proper
housing or
shelter,
food,
water,
sanitary
facilities
and
many
other
problems
have
still been
left
unresolved
for
those
who
have
been
displaced years
ago.
Because
of the
importance
of
the
living
environment
on
one’s
mental
and
physical
health, my
thesis
is
focused
on
designing
a
mobile
home
that
would
be
used
as
a long-term
temporary
solution
primarily
by
the
displaced people
who
have
lost their
home
due
to
natural
disasters.
The
proposed
dwelling
unit
would
be
easily transportable
and
would
include
the
basic
sanitary
facilities
such
as
a
toilet, wash
basin, shower,
and
a
mini
kitchen,
along with
other
spaces
needed
for
a
comfortable
life.
The
tiny
home
would
also
be able
to
operate
on
the
grid
as
well
as
off
the
grid
for
sites
where
no
or little
infrastructure
is
provided.
The
main
goal
of
this thesis
is
to
propose
a light-weight,
cost-effective
and
compact
dwelling
unit
by
exploring
the
concept of
“expandability”,
and
to
provide
the
displaced
people
with
a
safe,
healthy, and
comfortable
living
environment
until
their permanent houses
are
reconstructed.
| Co-Supervisors: | John McMinn, University of Waterloo |
| Rolf Seifert, University of Waterloo | |
| Internal Reader: | Val Rynnimeri, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Michel Caron, Caron Consulting Inc |
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Wednesday,
January
11,
2017
2:30PM
ARC 2003
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.
Matthew Lawson
Of
the
thesis
entitled: Collective
Form:
Infill
housing
and
new domestic
spaces
in
Toronto's residential neighbourhoods
Abstract:
Toronto is
facing
a
housing
crisis,
the
symptoms
of
which
are
apparent
across
the
city; property
values
are
increasing
at
a
dizzying
rate,
rental
vacancy
rates
are
at historic
lows,
poverty
and
displacement
are
being
made
more
visible
by
waves
of gentrification.
And
yet, Toronto
is
undergoing
a
boom
of
residential construction,
with
high
rise
condominiums
changing
the
fabric
of
large
parts
of the
city.
Housing
in
this
climate
is
conceived
as
a
speculative
commodity, rather
than
as
a
space
of
dwelling;
this
is
a
crisis
not
only
of affordability and
access
to
housing,
but
also
the
quality
of
domestic
space.
This
condition is
not
simply
an
issue
of
the
current
supply
of
housing,
but
inherent
to
its production
and
form.
The
thesis
proposes
an
alternative
to
the
contemporary production
of
housing,
as
a critical
response
to
the
housing
crisis
and contemporary
domestic
space.
The
historical
evolution
of residential
typologies
in
the
city
makes
legible
policy
and
planning
tools
as well
as
socio-economic
tendencies.
The
initial
subdivision
of
large
scale properties
in
the
early
city
into
individual
residential
lots
and
accompanying commodification of
property
led
to
the
large-scale
production
of
semi
and detached
single
family
homes
as
the
dominant
historic
type
in
the
city, creating
a
perceived
image
of
Toronto
as
a
‘City
of
Homes’
that
persists
into the
present.
Post
war
development
expanded
this
production
of single
family homes
to
the
suburbs,
while
displacing
substantial
urban
communities
through Urban
Renewal
schemes
and
the
construction
of
high
rise
towers.
While
larger social
and
economic
institutions
have
undergone
rapid
changes
characterised
by the
current tendency
towards
neoliberalization,
domestic
space
is
still structured
around
the
institution
of
the
nuclear
family,
and
the
type
of
the single-family
home.
The
thesis
positions
itself
in
the
tradition
of
urban analysis
and
infill
typologies
proposed
by
architects
like
Diamond and
Myers and
George
Baird,
and
associated
reform
planning
movements
that
emerged
in response
to
these
patterns
in
the
1970’s,
while
imagining
the
possibilities
of new
domestic
spaces
that
reflect
contemporary
living
conditions.
Building
upon
this
precedent of
infill
housing,
the
proposal
contextualizes
low-rise
high
density
development within
Toronto’s
residential
Neighbourhoods;
large
geographic
areas
of
single family
homes
currently
protected
from
any
densification.
The
design
proposal acts
as
a
synthesis
to
these
ideas
about
the
form
of
contemporary
domestic space
and
the
contextual
nature
of
infill,
creating
increased
density
for reasons
of
affordability
for
residents,
but
also
to
respond
to
both
social
and ecological
sustainability
made
possible
by increased
density
and
more
efficient land
use.
The
logic
of
the
building
form
is
contextually
responsive, establishing
a
series
of
setbacks
based
on
the
existing
structure
of
the neighbourhoods,
as
well
as
manipulating
the
forms
based
on
subtractive
planes. A
resident
led development
model
is
proposed
to
resist
the
commodification
of housing,
while
creating
spaces
that
are
more
suitable
for
a
diverse
range
of contemporary domestic
realities with
reference
both
to
international
models,
as
well
as
a
long history
of
cooperative
housing
in Toronto.
The
internal
organization
of
the building
reinforces
these
social
organizational
structures
through
the provision
of
common
spaces
and
the
collectivization
of
domestic
labour.
The replication
of
these
typological
experiments
across
the
urban
fabric
allows
us to envision
the
production
of
new
forms
of
collective
dwelling
as
a
radical proposal
for
transforming
the
city
and
domestic
space
as
a
right
to
the
city.
| Supervisor: | Adrian Blackwell, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: | Marie-Paule Macdonald, University of Waterloo |
| John McMinn, University of Waterloo | |
| External Reader: | Mark Sterling, University of Toronto |
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Wednesday,
January
11,
2017
5:00PM
ARC Loft
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.
Sarah Gertler
Of
the
thesis
entitled: City
Familiaris:
A
Study
in Domesticating
Infrastructures
Abstract:
Problems
associated
with hyper
density
in
Canada
are
fairly
new,
but
they
often
create
innate
conflicts for
all
those
who
dwell
in
the
afflicted
areas.
CityPlace,
in
Toronto
is
one such
place.
The
project
is
the
largest
master-planned
community
within
Toronto and
is
also densest
neighbourhood
in
the
city.
The
model
for
its
development
is known
as
Vancouverism
and
the
podium
–
tower
is
the
essential
building
block
of this
style.
The
main
goal
of
this
type
is
livable
high-density
which
is achieved
through
a
created
criteria
and
template
for design.
The
resulting developments
tend
to
meet
the
“requirements”
needed
and
there
are
associated benefits,
but
due
to
their
compliance
a
homogeny
is
created.
This
homogeny
was passed
down
to
the
residents
that
inhabit
these
buildings.
The
great
majority of
residents are
young,
urban
professionals.
The
problem
created
is
that
this particular
group
of
people
are
also
prone
to
bringing
a
being
that
was
not considered
in
the
design
and
does
not
fit
within
the
homogeny
created,
the
dog.
Dogs
are
abundant
residents of
these
neighbourhoods
and
they
easily
show
the
problems
associated
with
this type
of
development
because
their
presence
magnifies
the
inadequacy
of
the environment
created.
The
neighbourhood
lacks
public
spaces
and
accommodation; as a
result
it
lacks
community.
This
means
that
few
feel
the
need
to
take responsibility
for
the
neighbourhood
and
instead
of
understanding
the
problem, blame
is
often
given
to
the
dogs
which
are
perceived
as
the
problem. Considering
this
thesis’s
estimated
number
of
2900 dogs
within
CityPlace
and adjacent
areas
this
problem
is
a
very
large
one.
The
intention
of
this
thesis is
to
alter
the
flawed
environment
(CityPlace)
by
lifting
away
some
of
its deep-seated
rigidity
to
make
it
more
open
to
the
other
which
in
this
case
is the
dog.
When
CityPlace
was
being
designed
there
was
no
indication
of
the
dog population
that would
reside
there.
No
accommodation
was
planned
for
the disorder
they
may
cause
or
the
pressures
that
they
would
place
on
the
finite, available
green
public
space.
This
resulted
in
conflicts
over
the
problems
they caused.
Since
there
was
inadequate
preparation,
stop gap
methods
such
as
signage were
implemented.
As
these
failed
tensions
continued
to
rise
and
the
presence of
the
dog
and
its
associated
by-products
are
now
one
of
the
most
hotly contested
issues
within
CityPlace
and
neighbourhoods
like
it.
The
proposed
thesis
is designed
to
alleviate
these
problems
through
accommodation
for
the
other.
This lessens
the
rigidity
imposed
on
the
neighbourhood
to
make
it
more
accepting
to dogs
and
humans.
This
is
achieved
through
integration
into
the
existing neighbourhood that
takes
advantage
of
all
the
underused
or
under-planned territories.
Accommodation
does
not
impede
upon
the
community,
but
instead makes
it
better.
It
also
allows
for
the
spreading
out
of
design
interventions which
has
the
added
benefit
of
diffusing
the
intensity
of use.
Not
only
will this
reduce
conflict,
but
it
will
allow
for
the
design
to
become
multipurpose. This
will
all
be
done
in
an
effort
to
provide
better
accommodation
for
the
dog while
increasing
benefits
to
all
other
parties
involved.
| Co-Supervisors: | Val Rynnimeri, University of Waterloo |
| Mona El-Khafif, University of Waterloo | |
| Committee Member: | Adrian Blackwell, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Lisa Rapoport, PLANT Architect Inc. |
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Thursday,
January
12,
2017
2:00PM
ARC 2003
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.
Sheng Wu
Of
the
thesis
entitled: Tactics
to
Tiny:
Finding
Your Way
Home
Abstract:
This
is
a
study
of
tiny
homes
and
how
they
fit
within
the practical
and
theoretical
framework
of
our
regulatory
housing
system.
It
starts with
a
(much)
smaller
home
but
has
social,
political,
financial
and
legal implications
far greater
than
its
physical
size.
Concluding
with
a
guidebook
of tactics
in
a
choose-your-own-adventure
format,
readers
navigate
the
current system
and
experience
the
choices
and
challenges
it
takes
to
obtain
a
tiny home.
It offers
conscious
readers
the
opportunity
to
critique
their
own presumptions
on
traditional
home-ownership.
The
format
is
congruent
with
the belief
that
there
is
more
than
one
way
to
reach
a
destination
and
there
is
more than one
destination
when
it
comes
to
choosing
our
homes.
We
should
nurture
the small,
agile,
and
convivial
efforts
of
autonomous
individuals
making
a
home
for themselves.
The
dweller
gains
back
control
of
the
home,
allowing
it to
become one’s
specific
adaptation
of
the
world.
| Supervisor: | Val Rynnimeri, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Member: | Andrew Levitt, University of Waterloo |
| Internal Reader: | Donald McKay, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Fred Thompson |
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Monday,
January
16,
2017
6:00PM
Main
Lecture
Theatre
(ARC
1001)
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.
Dina Tranze-Drabinia
Of
the
thesis
entitled: A
Home
for
Urban
Families:
An
Alternative
Approach
to
Housing
in Downtown
Toronto
Abstract:
As
prices
of
single
family
homes
rapidly increase
in
Toronto,
many
families
are
faced
with
a
challenging
dilemma:
move beyond
the
city’s
peripheries
to
where
house
prices
are
lower,
or
remain
within the
city
and
attempt
to find
suitable
housing
in
multi-unit
buildings. Recently,
more
families
have
been
choosing
the
latter,
yet
discovering
that
the city
offers
very
few
affordable
housing
options
suitable
for
families
with children.
This
thesis
is
an exploration
into
why
this
is
the
case
and
a proposition
for
a
possible
solution.
The
exploration
is
broken
down
into
two components:
the
political
and
economic
framework
of
housing
affordability
and an
urban
and
architectural
analysis
of
design
compatibility
of
housing
for families
with
children.
The findings
suggest
that
a
more
comprehensive
economic model
is
required,
with
consideration
given
to
community
land
trusts
and co-operative
housing.
Furthermore,
a
design
approach
which
considers
the amenities
and diversity
required
by
family
life
is
seen
to
create
a
more inclusive
built
environment.
The
research
culminates
in
a
design
synthesis
-
a
proposal
of
a co-operative
building
on
an
existing
parking
lot
in
Bloor
West
Village.
The proposed
design
of
the
Home
for
Urban
Families
is
exemplary
in
nature,
in
that it displays
a
possible
solution
within
the
established
framework
of
the
thesis.
| Supervisor: | Val Rynnimeri, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: | Andrew Levitt, University of Waterloo |
| John McMinn, University of Waterloo | |
| External Reader: | Michael Hannay, W Architect, Inc. |
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Tuesday,
January
17,
2017
3:00PM
ARC
2008
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.
Elie Bourget
Of
the
thesis
entitled: The Small-er
House
Design
Scheme
Abstract:
There
is
a
conflict
taking place
between
regional
and
community
interests. This
tension
is
nothing
new. Often
times
this
conflict
is
borne
out
of
urban
renewal
schemes
and
major infrastructure
interventions
in
core
neighbourhoods. As the
‘back
to
the
city’
trend
increases however,
these
conflicts
are
more
and
more
likely
to
push
into
first-ring
and postwar
suburbs. With
intensification policy,
like
with
urban
renewal
schemes
of
old,
it
is
the
small
things
that
get lost in
the
shuffle. In
Ottawa,
Canada, this
conflict
is
being
fought
over
character;
sun,
trees,
parking,
landscaping, setbacks,
and
affordability. These
are not
the
most
glamorous
aspects
of
architectural
design
and
many
would
argue change is
inevitable. But
if
these characteristics
were
in
fact
founding
tenets
of
a
residential
community,
then policy
makers
ought
make
every
effort
to
protect
them
as
they
set
and
pursue intensification
targets.
Unfortunately
these
low-density
residential
streets
have
fallen
into
a policy
blind-spot
and
city
planners
are
currently
scrambling
to
refine
new bylaws
aimed
at
curbing
invasive,
or
excessive,
developments. So
how
do
we
add
more people
to
these neighbourhoods
without
the
wholesale
replacement
of
the
existing
housing stock? For
the
suburb
of
Overbrook
the answer
may
be
to
take
a
page
out
of
the
50’s
and
go
small,
extra
small. The
introduction
of
coach houses
would unlock
a
much
needed
source
of
infill
for
this
neighbourhood,
and
many
like
it across
the
country. This
thesis
proposes their
regulation
and
deployment
aided
by
a
federal
initiative
inspired
by
the postwar
Small
House Design
scheme
of
the
Central
Mortgage
and
Housing Corporation.
| Supervisor: | Donald McKay, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Member: | Rick Haldenby, University of Waterloo |
| Internal Reader: | Val Rynnimeri, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Michael Hannay, W Architect, Inc. |
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Tuesday,
January
17,
2017
6:00PM
ARC
2026
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.
Sara Torki Baghbadorani
Of
the
thesis
entitled: Contemplative
Space: Design
for
Generative
Parametric
Tessellations
Applied
to
a
Shell
Structure
Abstract:
This thesis focuses on a componential shell structure constructed through a generative, parametric, modular system at global and local scales. The shell form uses vault topology, is adaptive to various geographical regions, and serves as contemplative space. For this purpose, Grasshopper components hosting written C# code are used to design two strategies within a multi-layer system.
First, the design proposes a master system that is standard in both strategies, capable of expanding based on the region in which the design is to be realized. The second layer of this complex system uses the specific topology of the vault system. The two proposed strategies have the same components, column (the load-bearing module) and bridge (the module for covering the span), each of which exhibit different behaviours: first, symmetrical and homogeneous form and, second, non-symmetrical and heterogeneous form. The internal decoration system proposed for each strategy is based on algorithmic geometry, with two different characters: the first is inspired by muqarnas as a specific vernacular ornament (primarily from traditional Persian architecture), whereas the second is a non-cultural, neutral ornament (originating from computational design and achieved by deformation of mesh division).
The research informing the design focuses on two main areas, historical and contemporary architecture. In the first area of research, two precedents, “Arabesque Wall,” by Benjamin Dillenburger and Michael Hansmeyer, and “La Voûte de LeFevre” by Brandon Clifford and Wes McGee are described. An analysis of these contemporary architectural precedents help to explore how emerging digital technologies, in collaboration with the past, can create a new design ecology and culture. The second area of research considers cultural and phenomenological observations and the aesthetics of the design in its physical and psychological aspects in both historical and contemporary contexts, from the topology of the form to the visual perception of the internal surface that aims to create a “contemplative space.” This investigation indicates the points of contact between arabesque art as vernacular ornament and contemporary, computer-based art. Computational and parametric design is considered with regards to its effect on contemporary design culture. The parametric strategies, software, and C# coding used in the thesis are introduced along with Peter Fotiadis, the author of the C# programming. The spatial ornament known as muqarnas is analyzed as one example of algorithmic ornament, illustrated through a contemporary “art of the knot” designed using parametric tools. In the last part of the research, the features of the vault system are demonstrated historically and through individual examples of each kind. In parallel, the contemporary shell structure and methods form optimization by means of computational simulation and morphogenesis are investigated.
The
parametric
system
developed
in
the
thesis
design,
using
C#
coding
integrated
with
Grasshopper
software,
provides
an
opportunity
to
design
a
complex
geometrical
system
to
be
applied
to
the
shell
envelope.
The
resulting,
stand-alone
shell
provides
a
shelter
for
protecting
people
from
weather
conditions,
capable
of
hosting
a
variety
of
public
or
private
activities.
The
parametric
shell
structure
is
proposed
to
be
implemented
based
on
the
decoration
strategy,
with
the
“Modular”
strategy
for
specific
regions
familiar
with
the
vernacular
option
such
as
Iran
and
Arab
countries,
and
the
“Vault”
strategy,
using
a
deformed
mesh
decoration,
for
two
different
sites
in
St.
Petersburg,
Russia
and
Las
Vegas,
USA.
| Supervisor: | Philip Beesley, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Member: | David Correa, University of Waterloo |
| Internal Reader: | Val Rynnimeri, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Matthew Spremulli |
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Thursday,
January
26,
2017
4:00PM
ARC
2003
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.
Shannon Wright
Of
the
thesis
entitled: Claiming
the
Sky:
Rethinking
High-Rise
Development
in
the
City
of
Toronto
Abstract:
Toronto is following the footsteps of populated urban cities like New York through the extrusion of skyscrapers, transforming Toronto into one of the densest cities in North America. Rapid development of residential density has produced a mono-centric core in which density is favoured over sustainable social neighbourhoods. This “gold rush” of condominium development has superseded the production of public amenity infrastructure to support the density added. Limited vacant lands, coupled with rising housing prices and the ever-increasing population, points to a potential crisis in which the long-term sustainability of these towers is questioned. Towers within the core can no longer afford to maintain the existing inflexible mono-culture, but must include public amenity infrastructure which supports the rapid density and diverse populous. The presence of the “tower”, soaring far beyond the ground plain, has further amplified the social and physical disconnect of the cities fabric and its inhabitants, while removing the responsibility from developers taking advantage of the trends.
This thesis aims to investigate the production of tower “neighbourhoods” through the hybridization of vertical public and private spaces. The proposal aims to question the current high rise trends and limited public amenity infrastructure within the city and provide an alternative model for porous vertical neighbourhoods in which public amenity infrastructure is used to achieve social sustainability within Toronto’s core.
| Co-Supervisors: | Rick Andrighetti, University of Waterloo |
| Mona El Khafif, University of Virginia | |
| Committee Member: | Val Rynnimeri, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Mark Sterling, University of Toronto |
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Wednesday,
March
22,
2017
10:00AM
ARC
2003
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.
Brock Benninger
Of
the
thesis
entitled: THE OTHER
PLACE
| Building
a
Retreat of
One’s
Own
Abstract:
How
is
one
to
ground
themselves
in
an
increasingly
virtual
and abstract
world? The
Other
Place
offers
a complimentary
environment
to
daily
life.
Here
one
can
establish
the
necessary critical
distance
from
the
conditions which
define
day
to
day
life,
and
gain the
perspective
required
to
position
ones
self
within,
or
against,
these conditions. Interpretations
of
The
Other Place,
beginning
with
the
ideology
of
Otium
as
expressed
through
the roman villa,
continue
today,
varying
widely
across
cultures,
regions
and individuals. The
Other
Place,
then,
can be
understood
as
representative
of
characteristics
that
are
at
once
general, and
quite
specific,
reflective
of broad
contextual
considerations,
and
the particularities
of
its
occupant.
The rich
and
complex
process
of
designing
and
building
a
retreat
of
one’s
own,
in the
tradition
of
the
Ontario
Cottage,
on
an
island
property
3
hours
northeast of
Toronto
is
used
to
engage
with,
in
a
rich
and
tangible
way, the architecture,
and
understanding
of
the
retreat
as
a complimentary environment
necessary
in
contemporary
life. The
act
of
building
leads
to
an
examination
of
how
building
and
self
are inseparable. Building,
then, becomes
a
means of
architectural
and
self-understanding. As
The
Other
Place
facilitates
a
wholeness
in
contemporary
existence found
through
its
experience,
so
too
is
a
wholeness
in
architectural
education gained
in
the pragmatic
relationship
between
theory
and
practice
found
in moving
from
the
studio
to
building
site
and
applying
knowledge
gained
from
one to
the
other.
| Supervisor: | Rick Andrighetti, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: | Rick Haldenby, University of Waterloo |
| John McMinn, University of Waterloo | |
| External Reader: | Paul Dowling |
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Friday,
March
24,
2017
1:30PM
ARC
2026
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.
Rachel Cohen-Murison
Of
the
thesis
entitled: From
Mountain
to Maleh:
Water
as
an
Agent
of
Negotiation
in
the Kidron Valley
/
Wadi
an-Nar
Abstract:
In
a
site
with
significantly
fractured
political,
social,
and
environmental governance,
it
comes
as
no
surprise
that
the
West
Bank’s
water
network
is fraught
with
issues.
Over-pumping
of
groundwater,
inadequate
sewage
treatment, and contamination
of
surface
and
groundwater
are
by-products
of
the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.
The
West
Bank’s
Mountain
Aquifer
system
generates more
than
a
third
of
Israel’s
yearly
water
intake
(600-700
million
cubic metres)
but
is being
heavily
pumped, supplying
significantly
more
water
to
Israelis
than
Palestinians.
A recharge
area
of
4700
square
kilometres
allows
polluted
wastewater
from
over two
million
Israeli
and
Palestinian
inhabitants
of
the
West
Bank and
Jerusalem area
to
enter
groundwater. Over
time, levels
of
nitrate
and
micro-biological
contaminants
from
inadequate
sewage treatment,
dumping,
and
agricultural
runoff
have
increased,
compromising
future drinking
water
quality from
springs
and
wells.
One
valley in
particular,
Nahal
Kidron/Wadi
an-Nar,
receives
a
significant
amount
of pollution.
It
is
one
of
the
only
cross-border
streams
between
Israel
and
the Palestinian
West
Bank
to
not
have
an
environmental
remediation
plan
in place. Framed
within
the
parameters
of
the
current
Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, research
on
the
impact
of
unmitigated
surface
and
groundwater
pollution,
as well
as
social
inequity
between
communities
in
the
Kidron/Wadi
an-Nar,
has inspired
this
thesis‘s
design
of
architecture
and
landscape
treatment stewarding
environmental
and
social
agency.
The
thesis first
examines
the
existing
context
of
the
water
network
and
political boundaries
of
the
Kidron/Wadi
an-Nar.
Cultural
history
and
urban
theory
inform the
analysis
of
the
site,
further
explaining
how
water
and
land
are spatially negotiated
and
governed
in
a
state
of
conflict.
Finally,
this
thesis
proposes architecture
and
landscape
interventions
at
three
locations
along
the Kidron/Wadi
an-Nar.
These
installations
operate
at
varying
scales,
from
a
small community
park
to
large
landscape
installations,
in
order
to
serve
as interfaces
for
independent
water
sourcing,
distribution,
and
treatment
outside of
the
existing
de
facto
West
Bank
water
infrastructure
network.
These installations
do not
propose
a
solution,
however
desperately
needed,
to
the
long-held conflict
in
the
region,
but
instead
set
up
a
series
of
architecture
and landscape
interventions
which
shape
how
the
sites
would
be
managed
in
the future.
This
thesis
draws
methodological inspiration
from
existing
EcoPeace
Ecoparks;
design
inspiration
from
the
Arava Institute’s
sewage
disposal
units
for
rural
Palestinian
towns,
as
well
as
from preventative
planting;
and
an implementation
structure
from
the
existing
Kidron Action
Plan
steering
committee,
as
well
as
the
Arava
Institute's
Centre
for Transboundary
Water
Management.
These
groups
and
projects
harness
respective communities‘
agency
over water
within
their
broader
watershed.
| Supervisor: | Lola Sheppard, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: | Rick Andrighetti, University of Waterloo |
| Suzy Harris-Brandts | |
| External Reader: | Fadi Masoud, University of Toronto |
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Monday,
April
10,
2017
9:00AM
ARC
2003
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.
Rachel Fung
Of
the
thesis
entitled: AquaCalifornia:
Water
Infrastructure
in
the
Age
of
Scarcity
Abstract:
Water scarcity
is
one
of
the
most
prominent
water
issues
worldwide.
Globally,
there are
multiple
countries
suffering
from
various
degrees
of
drought
and
the
recent California
drought
is
indisputably
one
of
the
most
critical
examples
of the water
shortage
issue.
A
series
of
natural
phenomenon
triggered
by
climate change
have
caused
depletion
in
the
regional
freshwater
supply.
This
lack
of freshwater
has
led
to
the
closure
of
agribusinesses
and
decrease
in
employment and
food
supplies.
Water
shortage
is
not
just
an
environmental
crisis
but
also affects
economic,
political
and
social
systems
on
multiple
levels,
and
the golden
state
that
once
represented
the
American
dream
now
suffers
severely
from its
worst
drought
in
1200
years.
The
situation
in California
is
not
merely
a
result
of
climate
instability;
out-dated
water infrastructure
systems
and
failure
to
capture
potential
water
resources
are also
key
contributors
to
the
scarcity.
Due
to
the
state’s
diverse microclimates,
much
of
California
currently
depends
on
other
parts
of
the region
for
imported
water
supply.
Under
the
existing
drought,
the
large-scale water
allocation
systems
are
proven
to
be
unreliable
as
they
further
unbalance water
stress
at
the
source
and
end-use
locations.
Locally,
there
is
also
a
lack of
public
interest
and
effective
water
infrastructures
to
facilitate
the capture
of
stormwater
and
recycling
of
wastewater.
Many
parts
of
California fail
to capitalize
these
potential
water
savings
and
simply
direct
them
into disposal
systems.
This
contamination
and
waste
of
runoff
represented
a
valuable but
missed
opportunity
to
offset
the
drought
impacts.
The
goal
of
this thesis
is
to
develop
a
series
of
decentralized
water
systems
that
focuses
on capitalizing
alternative,
localized
water
resources
in
Californian
cities,
and
could be
simultaneously
expanded
as
spaces
for
additional programs
in
urban
areas. The
speculative
design
would
not
only
serve
as
a
prototype
for
future
urban developments
and
encourage
planners
and
builders
to
rethink
the
urban
fabric
as part
of
the
larger
hydrological
system.
It
helps reinvent
water
infrastructures to
better
facilitate
urban
life
and
actively
engage
the
public
in
order
to create
a
paradigm
shift
in
the
water
consumption
culture.
As
dry
conditions
become
the
“new- normal”
of
the
American
West,
designers
must
renegotiate
the
relationship between
the
urban
fabric
and
its
water
infrastructure.
Through
the
assessment and
redesign
of
the
current
water
network, AquaCalifornia
proposes
a
new
direction of
water
infrastructure
development
that
helps
construct
a
potent
and
reliable water
future
in
California.
| Supervisor: | Lola Sheppard, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: | Mona El-Khafif, University of Virginia |
| Ila Berman, University of Virginia | |
| External Reader: | Fadi Masoud, University of Toronto |
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Monday,
April
10,
2017
11:00AM
ARC
2026
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.
Katherine Holbrook-Smith
Of
the
thesis
entitled: Mediations
of
Shattered
Water
| Environmental Intimacy
&
the
Dissolution
of
the
Self
Abstract:
In
a
time
of accelerated
environmental
degradation,
a
human-centric
approach
to
engagement has
engendered
a
pervasive
cultural
passivity
towards
the
environment.
This fatalistic
detachment
amplified
by
technological
advances
and, in
Canada,
the vastness
of
our
landscape
demands
that
we
reanimate
our
perception
of
the natural
world.
Environmental
intimacy
aims
to
dissolve
the
“I-it”
relationship through
an
affective
merging
of
subject
and
object,
recognizing that
just
as
we move
through
the
landscape,
the
landscape
moves
through
us,
resulting
in heightened
ecological
attunement.
This
research
uses
the sensing
human
body
as
the
primary
site
of
spatial
perception.
With
a
camera strapped
to
my
body
I
encounter
waterfalls.
From
these
encounters,
the sensations
of
shattered
water
are
cultivated
and
reformed
into cast
plaster
and concrete
artifacts,
deterritorializing
the
waterfalls
from
their
physical location
into
affective
material
formations.
These
crafted
artifacts
are
the distillation
of
my
encounters
with
the
shattering
of
water,
extending
the movement
of
the
body
through
the
landscape
into
the
craft
and
navigation
of architectural
space.
The
process
of
translation created
to
test
the
potential
of affective deterritorialization involves
the
technical
mediums
of
photography, digital
editing,
computer
modelling,
Computer
Numerical
Control
(CNC)
routing and
vacuum forming
to
develop
the
sensuous
cast
surfaces.
These
processes
bring the
digital
image
back
into
the
material
world,
resulting
in
a
new
form
of
cast landscape
detached
from
a
geographical
location
while
resonant
with
the
forces moving
through
it.
These
castings
are
deterritorialized
landscapes
of sensations
which
engage
the
integral
and
reciprocal
relationships
between
the body
and
its
environment.
| Supervisor: | Dereck Revington, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: | Anne Bordeleau, University of Waterloo |
| Jane Hutton, University of Waterloo | |
| External Reader: | Yvonne Lammerich |
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Wednesday,
April
26,
2017
10:00AM
ARC
Loft
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.
Andrew Cole
Of
the
thesis
entitled: The Reflexive
Urban
Fabric:
The
Re-imagining
of
Toronto’s
Rail
Corridor
Abstract:
The
thesis The
Reflexive
Urban
Fabric:
The
Re-imagining
of Toronto’s
Rail
Corridor is
concerned
with
architecture’s
role
in
shaping infrastructural
systems
into
designed
composite
networks
that
respond
to
local, social,
and ecological
conditions.
Infrastructural systems
present
a
dichotomy
between
the
technical
and
cultural
influences
that are
inseparable
from
urban
planning.
They
have
been
given
technical
priority over
natural
and
urban
landscapes
for
an agenda
of
higher
mono-focused productivity,
while
also
shaping
urban
fabrics
in
relation
and
interactions
to the
supplies
with
which
infrastructural
systems
provide.
Through
the acknowledgement
of
historical
development
within
downtown
Toronto,
the infrastructural
interventions
of
past
eras
have
generated
spatial
conditions that
currently
constrict
the
desires
of
potential
urban growth. The
city
is
forced
to
develop
around
these suppressing
interventions,
creating
a
tension
between
the
growing
demands
of
an amenity-filled
contemporary
city
and
the
supply
dominance
of
functional efficiency.
The
Toronto rail
corridor
is
currently
a
void
in
the
urban
fabric,
which
is
splitting
the ground
plane
and
limiting
the
connection
between
the
city’s
core
and
its waterfront.
Thus,
it
is
the
exploration
of
reflexive infrastructural interventions
along
the
rail
corridor
that
attempts
to
reposition
the
role
of the
civic
conduit
and
expand
the
perception
of
its
performance
to
include social
and
cultural
dimensions.
The
primary intervention
focuses
on
the
Toronto
rail
corridor
between
Bathurst
Street
West to
Blue
Jay
Way.
The
proposal
is
an
investigation
of
the
role
of
the specialized
park
as
an
act
of
reflexive
infrastructure,
where the
layering
of both
social
amenities
and
technical
functions
produce
a
composite
network
for Toronto.
The
site
of
the
Toronto
rail
deck
park
is
the
first
intervention
in
a larger
series
of
interventions
to
re-imagine
the
rail corridor
as
a
whole
into a
reflexive
network
of
designed
spaces.
| Supervisor: | John McMinn, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: | Rick Haldenby, University of Waterloo |
| Val Rynnimeri, University of Waterloo | |
| External Reader: | Mark Sterling, University of Toronto |
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Thursday,
April
27,
2017
4:00PM
ARC
Loft
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.