Nicola Augustin
Of
the
thesis
entitled: Motion
with
Moisture:
Creating
Passive
Dynamic
Envelope
Systems
Using
the
Hygroscopic
Properties
of
Wood
Veneer
Abstract:
This
thesis
presents
research
into
the
creation
of
an
autonomously
responsive
envelope
system
capable
of
adaptation
to
variation
in
relative
humidity
through
the
use
of
wood
veneer
and
its
hygroscopic
material
properties.
As
an
alternative
strategy
to
the
extensive,
energy-intensive,
technological
systems
characteristic
of
contemporary
responsive
envelopes,
dynamic
systems
using
hygroscopic
materials
are
both
low-cost
and
low-tech
while
also
producing
adaptation
without
consumable
energy
input
or
external
control.
Produced
is
a
meteorosensitive,
semi-permeable,
passive
facade
that
aims
to
enhance
both
the
physical
and
physiological
comfort
of
interior
spaces
through
moderating
airflow
and
light
infiltration.
The
facade
is
an
assemblage
of
expanding,
hygroscopic
tubes,
formally
based
on
the
principles
of
fluid
dynamics
outlined
by
Bernoulli’s
principle
and
functionally
implemented
by
the
Venturi
tube,
to
orchestrate
airflow
from
interior
to
exterior.
The
performance
of
the
hygroscopic
facade
is
tested
using
computational
fluid
dynamics
software
and
is
compared
against
the
performance
of
a
standard
Venturi
tube
assembled
in
the
same
manner.
The
results
of
this
testing
show
that
despite
a
cross
sectional
difference
from
the
standard
Venturi
tube,
the
hygroscopic
mechanism
is
capable
of
increasing
airflow
into
interior
spaces
through
the
purposeful
creation
of
a
low
pressure
zone
within
the
mechanism.
Optimizing
the
performance
of
the
mechanism
is
done
through
a
biomimetic
transfer
of
both
formal
and
functional
intelligence
from
the
biological
precedents
of
the
Ipomoea
flower
and
the
conifer
cone
as
found
by
Ross
Koning,
Wouter
van
Doorn
et
al.,
and
Kahye
Song
et
al.
As
well
as,
material
studies
performed
by
Steffen
Reichert,
and
Artem
Holstov
et
al.
are
traced
to
understand
the
performance
and
characteristics
of
the
wood
veneer
as
a
bilayer
composite
that
allows
the
mechanism
to
undergo
repeated
transformations
and
achieve
variability
of
expansions
from
one
end
of
the
mechanism
to
the
other.
The
direct
integration
of
biological
precedents
within
architecture
asserts
that
building
materials
can
be
seen
as
productive
entities,
passively
attuned
to
the
natural
rhythms
and
variability
of
the
external
environment,
while
maintaining
flexibility
for
functional
implementation
as
self-sufficient,
adaptive
facades.
| Supervisor: | Philip Beesley, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: |
John McMinn, University of Waterloo David Correa, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Martyn Dade-Robertson |
The committee has been approved as authorized by the Graduate Studies Committee.
The Defence Examination will take place:
Friday, January 12, 2018 9:30AM Musagetes Architecture Library
A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.
Natalia Semenova
Of
the
thesis
entitled: POWER,
ARCHITECTURE,
TRANSITION: Creating
a
Safe
Space
for
Victims
of
Domestic
Violence
Abstract:
This
thesis
examines
issues
of
poverty
and
homelessness
in
Toronto,
specifically
focusing
on
the
needs
of
women
and
children
who
are
the
most
vulnerable
group
and
are
homeless
as
a
result
of
being
victims
of
domestic
violence.
The
thesis
reflects
on
the
power
of
architecture,
relating
to
the
limits
of
a
physical
environment
created
by
an
institution
and
how
this
effects
rehabilitation
and
empowerment
for
shelter
residents.
This
is
a
polemical
thesis
which
creatively
engages
in
the
discussion
of
how
informed
design
paired
with
an
enlightened
service
model
can
create
a
positive
implication
on
residents’
recovery.
The traditional and institutional notion of the shelter, with its objective of correction, is not capable of extending beyond offering accommodation, to address the questions of fundamental concerns to our society. Violence against women is a crime that exists in secrecy. Survivors of domestic violence remain invisible, without a visible place to speak, without a place to tell their own stories.Dialog is transformative. Telling invokes transformation.[i] In this context, a shelter can become a space of resistance.
This thesis proposes a model for designing a shelter that is based on transformation, rather than adaptation. A model that openly instills invention and dialog. A model that can question the relationship between personal and public. The aim of this project is to allow for architectural affordance created through affect and syntax. By looking at program possibilities, such as thresholds and gradients of privacy, this thesis proposes an approach that mediates the relationships between shelter residents, their community, and the surrounding neighborhood.
[i] Silverman, Tami, and Chris Taylor. “Shelter: A Place of the Telling a Chimerical Cookbook.” Shelter, Women, and Development: First and Third World Perspectives. By Hemalata C. Dandekar. N.p.: George Wahr, 1996. 367.
| Supervisor: | Rick Andrighetti, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: |
Janna Levitt, University of Waterloo Dereck Revington, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Chloe Town |
The committee has been approved as authorized by the Graduate Studies Committee.
The Defence Examination will take place:
Friday, January 12, 2018 2:00PM ARC 2003
A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.
Keturah Breckon
Of
the
thesis
entitled: PRINCE
EDWARD
COUNTY
IN
THE
21ST CENTURY
Abstract:
In
recent
years,
Prince
Edward
County
has
gained
wide-spread
attention
for
the
unique
experience
it
offers.
Articles
published
by
media
outlets
in
Toronto,
Ottawa
and
Montréal
have
directed
a
large
urban
population
to
the
region,
which
is
now
experiencing
an
unprecedented
influx
of
tourists.
The
County,
as
local
residents
refer
to
it,
has
enthusiastically
welcomed
visitors
over
the
past
two
centuries.
Many
of
these
tourists
have
returned
annually
to
enjoy
the
rural
landscapes,
charming
small
towns,
natural
features,
and
friendly
communities.
However,
the
most
recent
wave
of
tourists
is
driving
troubling
trends,
and
producing
new
types
of
accommodation
that
threaten
to
devastate
the
County’s
unique
character,
and
its
local
community,
both
which
are
responsible
for
making
it
a
desirable
place
to
live
and
visit.
The
economic
benefits
of
the
tourism
industry
are
important
to
the
County.
However,
the
cost
of
these
benefits
is
far
too
high
when
the
County’s
fundamental
character
and
local
community
is
put
at
risk.
This thesis explores the existing character of the County as well as current forms of visitor accommodation. A new development typology and planning strategy is proposed that aims to accommodate a growing visitor population while maintaining the integrity of the County’s existing character. The principle of compatible development set forth by the County’s latest official planning document is more clearly articulated through a set of compatible design strategies presented by the thesis. The proposal aims to demonstrate an approach to design and visitor accommodation that engages with the existing rural character of the County, creating continuity between the existing qualities of the place and new development.
| Supervisor: | Rick Haldenby, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: |
Rick Andrighetti, University of Waterloo Andrew Levitt, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Craig England |
The committee has been approved as authorized by the Graduate Studies Committee.
The Defence Examination will take place:
Wednesday, January 17, 2018 2:00PM ARC 3506
A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.
Andjela
Tatarovic
Abstract:
This
is
a
parody
on
Albert
Camus’ The
Fall,
and
it
satirizes
Contemporary
Architecture’s
Dystopic
Marginalizations.
It
takes
place
one
fateful
night
between
a
frustrated
middle-aged
architect,
Henrik
Latrope,
and
his
fresh
off
the
streets
client
Moseley.
Latrope is the un-sung hero of dreams turned to ash. After many years in the building industry attempting to make it big, it is clear that he has had enough: of everything. He is angry at the state of his world but knows not how to change it. His only hope seems to be finding a client who understands what he is trying to achieve. To get Moseley up to task, he ends up taking him on a ramble throughout Toronto.
Leaving his usual professional mask at the door, Latrope sheds light on a stream of challenges his one-man lead practice must face. He paints a dire picture of a profession whose inherited high culture leanings, and sheltered development, have resulted in many misconceptions about its intentions, inner workings, and relevancy. Latrope swears that architecture is essential, and as a hard-headed believer in the superb righteousness of his ways, he attempts to save Moseley’s soul from leading the sinful life sans Architecture.
| Supervisor: | Robert Jan van Pelt, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: |
Donald McKay, University of Waterloo Anne Bordeleau, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Zubin Singh |
The committee has been approved as authorized by the Graduate Studies Committee.
The Defence Examination will take place:
Monday, February 12, 2018 5:00PM ARC 2026
A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.
Georgiana Nicoara
Abstract:
This thesis takes the form of a pilgrimage to the Buddhist temple of Borobudur in Indonesia to explore the relationship between spiritual practices and physical space, in particular analyses the relationships between space, practice and affect. In this thesis space is identified as an overarching category to include the physical, social and mental environments. Practice indicates repeated engagement by the participant, and lastly, affect signifies the personal capacity to be changed by architecture beyond the momentary interaction. The potency of affective architecture relies on a careful balance between curated architectural methods and the mindful involvement of the practitioner. My experience pilgrimage through the temple of Borobudur acts as an architectural laboratory in order to investigate first hand the physical architectonic elements and methods of perception which support and amplify a spiritual encounter. The goal of the thesis is to understand the potential for architecture to encourage or promote spiritual awareness to better understand the physical space of spirituality.
| Supervisor: | Rick Haldenby, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: |
Andrew Levitt, University of Waterloo Robert Jan van Pelt, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Christie Pearson |
The committee has been approved as authorized by the Graduate Studies Committee.
The Defence Examination will take place:
Wednesday, February 14, 2018 9:30AM ARC 2003
A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.
Jacqueline Chow
Of
the
thesis
entitled: Post-Oil
+15:
Designing
an
“Urban
Campus”
in
Downtown
Calgary
Abstract:
Calgary,
Alberta
is
a
city
that
is
economically
dependent
on
the
petroleum
industry.
The
inevitable
boom
and
bust
cycle
surrounding
the
petroleum
industry
frequently
disrupts
Calgary’s
socioeconomic
health.
Since
the
most
recent
downturn
in
2014
caused
by
a
drop
in
oil
prices,
the
downtown
region
has
suffered
from
a
decline
of
buildings,
jobs
and
population.
As
the
administrative
centre
of
the
petroleum
industry,
the
city
core
has
been
depleted
of
activity
both
in
the
public
realm
and
in
private
office
towers.
The desolate state of downtown Calgary is not merely the result of the instability of the oil market, but is also due to the lack of success of the “+15 system” in creating a cohesive urban centre. The +15 system, a network of walkways which connect office towers through a series of elevated bridges, removes the pedestrian from the streets and renders the public realm inactive.
The question of economic sustainability and urban renewal has challenged the policies of Albertan politicians, with many advocating strengthening alternative industries outside of oil and gas. As a response to this potentially diverse future economy, this thesis explores how the modern university can actively engage in the process of industry diversification by creating spaces that connect academic, social and economic activity. By transforming the +15 system from an isolated path into an “urban campus”, this proposal aims to activate and connect the horizontal public and vertical private realms.
| Supervisor: | Rick Andrighetti, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: |
Ali Fard, University of Waterloo Val Rynnimeri, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Kristin Schreiner |
The committee has been approved as authorized by the Graduate Studies Committee.
The Defence Examination will take place:
Wednesday, February 14, 2018 10:00AM Musagetes Architecture Library
A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.
Graham Girard
Of
the
thesis
entitled: The
Sockeye
Special:
Reimagining
the
Arbutus
Corridor
for
a
Resilient
Vancouver
Abstract:
An
underutilized
ribbon
of
land
cuts
through
the
urban
fabric
of
Vancouver,
British
Columbia.
Known
as
the
Arbutus
Corridor,
it
is
the
right
of
way
for
a
rail
line
that
once
connected
industry
on
opposite
sides
of
the
city.
Since
the
last
train
rattled
down
the
line
in
2001,
the
land
has
sat
idly
waiting
for
a
new
purpose.
It is a familiar scene in postindustrial cities across North America, where landscapes of defunct infrastructure serve as a reminder of once thriving economies powered by industries that have since shifted to the periphery or overseas. This urban condition has prompted a range of responses that aim to breathe new life into these discarded spaces.
Vancouver has long been recognized as a leader in this postindustrial redevelopment movement, and cities around the world now emulate “Vancouverism” as the model for their own development. Yet, the Arbutus Corridor remains a stranded rail link snaking through the urban milieu. At just under ten kilometers in length and eighteen hectares in area, the corridor remains one of the largest unutilized spaces in the city. Running north to south from False Creek to the Fraser River, the linear site cuts a complete transect through several diverse neighbourhoods of the city.
Through these studies, the thesis will propose a reimagined Arbutus Corridor that responds to the complexity of modern urban systems and activates the collective needs and aspirations of city dwellers in the 21st century metropolis.
| Supervisor: | Donald McKay, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: |
Andrew Levitt, University of Waterloo Val Rynnimeri, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Michael Hannay |
The committee has been approved as authorized by the Graduate Studies Committee.
The Defence Examination will take place:
Friday, February 16, 2018 2:00PM Loft Gallery
A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.
James Banks
Of
the
thesis
entitled: Domestic
Insurgency | Toward
Affordable
Housing
in
Vancouver
Abstract:
Vancouver’s ongoing housing crisis has decoupled dwelling prices from local income through investment oriented dwelling typologies and restrictions on land availability. Vancouver, as one of the first North American cities to reach a post-sprawl condition, must correct policy and land use to acknowledge changes in dwelling preferences, demographics, and land value to provide a housing supply strategy.
Following the rewriting of contradictory policy that is currently misaligned with the goal of affordability, the thesis proposes a housing framework for the private sector to profitably build dwellings suitable for a range of local incomes. The framework targets Vancouver’s most prominent, repetitive, and artificially underused land, its low density house neighbourhoods, to resurrect a middle density housing typology to respectfully transition neighbourhoods to affordable dwellings. Using a three pronged approach of neighbourhood improvement, flexible design for occupant control, and a focus on sharing, dwellings are drastically reduced in cost due to efficient space and material planning while simultaneously increasing living benefits to building inhabitants and its existing neighbours. Traditional thresholds at the dwelling and building scales are reimagined to support smaller living spaces and urban development in established neighbourhoods. These thresholds create new co-dependent, beneficial relationships and dynamically mitigate frictions, rather than eliminate them altogether. Ultimately, the framework provokes a wave of disruption in the housing market, where alternative living arrangements in the form of co-living apartment models and a wider spectrum of dwelling prices are mass produced, reinstating affordability as a key facet in the living standard formula governing housing design. The disruption would challenge homogeneous condominium construction to adapt a new competitive housing segment, shifting the focus from investment to human capital.
The framework is an insurgent force that provides affordable housing through the private sector despite distorted high property costs, using existing property and economic mechanisms to create an alternative competitive affordable housing type. It is also an insurgency within the built fabric of the city, inserting itself within established neighbourhoods currently fortified against change and in progressing ideas of co-living and participatory design. Through efforts to improve neighbourhoods for existing residents and a focus on the inhabitants, the insurgency reduces opposition to new development, thereby securing a predictable and sustainable supply of housing for the long term. Over time, it is the ambition of this proposal to reach a critical mass in which the influence of the new housing segment reduces housing prices for all dwellings, restoring affordability within the entire city.
| Supervisor: | Adrian Blackwell, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: |
Andrew Levitt, University of Waterloo Val Rynnimeri, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Matthew Soules |
The committee has been approved as authorized by the Graduate Studies Committee.
The Defence Examination will take place:
Friday, March 23, 2018 2:00PM ARC 2003 - Photo Studio
A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.
Janice Woo
Of
the
thesis
entitled: Living,
Together:
Tools
for
Building
an
Intergenerational
Community
Abstract:
Population aging is poised to become the most critical global demographic shift of this century. Particularly in highly developed regions, the proportion of older adults is growing more quickly than other age groups as a result of rising life expectancy coupled with falling birth rates. Simultaneously, rural flight and the continuing growth of cities worldwide have resulted in more than half of the global population residing in urban areas for the first time in history.1 The intersection of these two patterns raises questions about how older adults fit into the existing urban narrative. In cities like Toronto, where the housing market is highly competitive and supply is focused on high-density housing targeted at young urban professionals, older adults are tacitly rejected from dense urban areas due to inadequate housing options. As they age and become unable to maintain a home independently, older adults become even more starved for choice and must turn to senior-specific housing. The mainstream condo market also fails to accommodate the growing number of Canadians who live in non-nuclear households, such as multi-generational families.
To sustain a continually aging, urbanizing, diversifying population, Toronto’s housing market must aim to create more intergenerational communities, guided by a set of design principles that generate welcoming spaces for people of all ages and abilities. Using Toronto as a case study, this thesis deploys an intergenerational housing tool kit in the form of a mid-rise building located on the current site of a municipal surface parking lot in Kensington Market.
1 United
Nations,
Department
of
Economic
and
Social
Affairs,
Population
Division, World
Urbanization
Prospects:
The
2014
Revision (ST/ESA/SER.A/352)
(New
York:
United
Nations),
7.
| Supervisor: | Rick Andrighetti, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: |
Val Rynnimeri, University of Waterloo John McMinn, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Alison Hannay |
The committee has been approved as authorized by the Graduate Studies Committee.
The Defence Examination will take place:
Wednesday, April 4, 2018 10:00AM ARC 2003 - Photo Studio
A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.
Christopher Chan
Of
the
thesis
entitled: Ares
Infinite
–
Creating
a
3D
Printed
Design
Vernacular
for
an
Evolving
Research
Station
on
Mars
Abstract:
This thesis proposes the design of a habitat built on Mars. It speculates on the usage of 3D print technology as a construction method to address the extreme environmental conditions of the planet, as well as the changing architectural and programmatic demands of an ever evolving Martian research station.
Collectively, our design inclinations for interplanetary habitation tend to be reminiscent of metal pods which are modular, prefabricated, and adaptable. Although these designs are effective in places like on the International Space Station, Mars poses drastically different site conditions.
Given its incredible distance from Earth, a developing Mars settlement will need its architecture to be constructed using in-situ materials to relinquish dependence on materials sent from Earth. Furthermore, the Martian base will require its method of procurement to also be flexible and repeatable to suit the changing research needs and occupancy. 3D printing technology offers an ideal solution to these problems since this technology allows for a hands-off, and highly flexible construction method.
This thesis will investigate the potential for an efficient evolution of a Mars habitat using 3D printing as a strategy; starting at the initial conception of the habitat as a temporary exploration outpost, then growing into a larger research station with a population comparable to those of the Antarctic research communities on Earth.
| Supervisor: | Terri Boake, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: |
David Correa, University of Waterloo Philip Beesley, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Vincent Hui, Ryerson University |
The committee has been approved as authorized by the Graduate Studies Committee.
The Defence Examination will take place:
Monday, April 23, 2018 9:00AM ARC 2003 - Photo Studio
A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.
Clara Walker
Of
the
thesis
entitled: Are
we
there
yet?
A
Study
of
Public
Space
in
Midtown
Kitchener-Waterloo
Abstract:
With the introduction of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) route, Midtown Kitchener-Waterloo is now easily accessible from other areas in the Region via several transit options without the need to rely on personal vehicles. The LRT connects public transit to pedestrian and bicycling infrastructure, and, more importantly, acts as a catalyst for mixed-use, residential, and commercial development along its route. These are drastic changes in both how people move from place to place, and where those places are within the Region.
The public spaces of Midtown Kitchener-Waterloo will need to evolve in response to the changes prompted by the LRT development. The anticipated increase in population residing in this corridor will require additional amenities, and the streetscapes will need to address the augmented flows of people, all while enhancing without compromising the existing character. Through analysing the shifting priorities of emerging stakeholders, this thesis will explore how the public spaces of Midtown will reform during this period of change, and supplement ongoing government initiatives.
| Supervisor: | Val Rynnimeri, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: |
Rick Haldenby, University of Waterloo Rick Andrighetti, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Patrick Simmons |
The committee has been approved as authorized by the Graduate Studies Committee.
The Defence Examination will take place:
Friday, May 4, 2018 10:00AM ARC 2026
A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.
Mona Dai
Of
the
thesis
entitled: A
Commons
for
Resistance
Abstract:
The housing crisis is Oakland is starkly visible. In recent years, the tech boom in Silicon Valley has drastically increased costs of living in the Bay Area. Many workers from San Francisco and the peninsula have relocated across the Bay to Oakland, in search of more affordable rent, spurring a wave of gentrification and displacement in the city. Since 2000, Oakland has lost 29% of its Black popuation1. The Bay Area is gradually being re-segregated, as gentrification forces lower-income residents, often people of colour, to relocate to peripheral cities.
A Commons for Resistance examines the current crisis through a dialectic of commons space and enclosures. Commons spaces are spaces that are produced by all, and shared by all, while enclosures are spaces controlled by an exclusive group in society, which produce benefits for that group to the exclusion of all others. The thesis posits that Oakland’s current crisis is made possible by- and perpetuates- a history of enclosure in the city, which has created the inequality necessary for gentrification and displacement to occur. Policies of enclosure (for example, redlining, predatory lending, and Urban Renewal) organize domestic space, in turn generating the inequalities currently visible in the urban landscape.
Using this theoretical framework of commons and enclosures, the thesis also surveys current state, market and individual tactics addressing the crisis, revealing that most measures accept a default association between housing and private profit, and have limited effectiveness in adequately addressing the shortage of affordable housing. The thesis argues that for housing to be truly affordable, it must be a common right, detached from motives of profit.
The design response draws upon Oakland’s deep history of social justice activism, and the radical practices for living together that have emerged in its communities’ struggles to reclaim the commons. It advocates for a vision of housing embedded within the urban commons, kept perpetually affordable through a community land trust, a model of housing provision that is gaining clout in Oakland and in cities across the world facing gentrification pressures. An architecture of scaffolding is proposed for this model and applied in the design of three sites in Deep East Oakland. The scaffold refers a guiding framework for community involvement in the design and construction processes for these interventions. As well, the scaffold is an exploration of how architectural forms (surfaces, structures and landscapes) could contribute to the collective stewardship of space.
It is not the place of this thesis, written from an outsider’s perspective, to offer a definitive set of steps to solve the housing crisis. Instead, by learning from the crisis in Oakland and the collective efforts to combat it, A Commons for Resistance adds a voice to the growing, global call to see housing as a collective responsibility, offering a set of suggestions and provocations that illustrate the potentials of dwelling in the commons.
1 1 US Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B03002, 2000).; US Census Bureau, 2016 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B03002, 2016).
| Supervisor: | Adrian Blackwell, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: |
Jane Hutton, University of Waterloo Marie-Paule Macdonald, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Kuni Kamazaki, PARC, Parkdale Land Trust and University of Toronto |
The committee has been approved as authorized by the Graduate Studies Committee.
The Defence Examination will take place:
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 1:00PM ARC 3003
A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.
Samuel Ganton
Of the thesis entitled: Cauldron of Forces: Designing a Lightning Observatory on Lake Maracaibo
Abstract:
There
are
storms
in
the
world,
and
the
world
is
a
storm,
and
we
ourselves
are
weather.
Earth
and
the
universe
are
continually
emerging
and
dissolving:
geological,
meteorological,
and
biological
forces
interact
to
create
planets,
storms,
and
living
creatures,
which
cycle
from
one
form
to
another.
What
seems
static
is
simply
moving
slowly.
Everything
is
weather.
As an example, take the Maracaibo Basin in western Venezuela, a 50,000 km2 valley where wind, water, oil, and mountains are fused in a single turbulent system. The Catatumbo Lightning burns overhead, dominating the scene. Nearly every night for centuries there has been a thunderstorm over Lake Maracaibo – a persistent, recurring weatherform that has shaped cultural memory and mythology in the region. Below, the lake is the centre of Venezuela’s oil extraction operation. Wellheads dot the surface of the lake, threaded by a labyrinth of leaky underwater pipelines. All these phenomena have their genesis in the geological processes that shaped the basin. The uplift of surrounding mountain ranges has depressed the valley, freeing deep reservoirs of oil and trapping them close to the surface. The same mountains funnel low-level winds sweeping south from the Caribbean and create favourable conditions for thunderstorms.
This thesis wrestles with the complexity of the Maracaibo Basin through storytelling and design. Part One is a cosmic history, tracking the spatial and cultural metamorphosis of the valley. Part Two is a design investigation into architecture’s capacity to frame an encounter with wild weather. Through the speculative design of a thunderstorm observatory sited near the epicentre of the Catatumbo Lightning, it asks: what kind of architecture might participate in cycles of transience and change, rather than obscuring them? How might architecture extend sensory perception and become an instrument for connecting humans more completely to the storm that is our world?
| Supervisor: | Dereck Revington, University of Waterloo |
| Committee Members: |
Andrew Levitt, University of Waterloo Jane Hutton, University of Waterloo |
| External Reader: | Jonathan Tyrrell |
The committee has been approved as authorized by the Graduate Studies Committee.
The Defence Examination will take place:
Tuesday, May 15, 2018 6:00PM ARC 1001
A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.