VTechWorks Repository :: Browsing by Author "Dunay, Donna W."

Browsing by Author "Dunay, Donna W."

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4 Theatres…
Ruhland, James Randolph III (Virginia Tech, 2006-04-17)
This Project concludes in a folio of drawings. The object of study is a renewal of Blacksburg’s old Town Hall on Church Street. The proposed new program for the existing structure is a studio theatre, addition and working areas. The fundamental purpose of this project is to renew Blacksburg’s vision of "Theatre" through the building and use of a small theatre house. Suggesting to completely change what is now thought of, but rarely considered, as a local cultural icon almost automatically brings high level of local conservative scrutiny. The wonderful instance about this project is that by merely suggesting a renewal of this magnitude could spur an incredible debate from the word, "Action." The point is not that the entire production be reduced to a marketing stunt. The point is this: Building is, in part, a public spectacle which is charged by local levels of involvement. This spectacle component to building can be highlighted or subdued through several mediums, but the overarching message is the same. A projected future for the existing icon is a series of four theatres. The first, and foremost, theatre is the town itself. By covering the building, scaffolding and construction staging area with a veil, the existing structure is reduced to a larger-than-life object within the townscape. The new object rests on the platform of Blacksburg during its own construction stage. While not within the scope of this project, it is entirely legitimate that the veil itself could be designed through a local competition. The purpose is to gather curiosity by wrapping the building. The remaining three theatres are more explicit. The centerlined façade may be removed, revealing a covered entry similar to a typical stage set. The articulation of the walls, ceiling and floor resemble a much larger room with an acute perspectival illusion. This is the main street level entrance to the building. The new façade-room may also be used as a stage. The intersection in front of the building could be blocked off from vehicular traffic to provide house seating for a public performance. The Studio theatre is the main "stage" which could be used to facilitate a majority of productions. This abstract cubic space may be manipulated as the house manager and production director see fit. This space is surrounded by occupiable marginalized mechanical volumes. These volumes are for any equipment, or individuals, necessary to maintain the illusion of the theatre. The finished surfaces of the studio should be completely assembled from panels and modular. Every surface, at every moment, in the Studio may be changed. An addition lies directly adjacent to the Studio through a roll-up garage door. This two-story area provides work areas, and rehearsal space in addition to storage. This area may also be manipulated as the house manager and production director see fit. The finished floor of the addition is shared with the large public parking lot behind the existing building. This back lot is also shared with a number of local businesses, and one of Blacksburg’s underground streams. This bowl-like space is the lowest elevation near the town’s original sixteen squares. The back doors of the Shop are oversized to receive any large shipments or materials and/or equipment. When completely open, these two sixteen foot high doors double as a proscenium stage. The pair of doors, in cooperation with an overhead canopy, resembles a typical theatre stage opening. This stage could be used for less formal occasions. It has been worthwhile to remember that a studio theatre type depends on maintaining a high level of abstract qualities, tremendous versatility and the ability to have the performance an the audience on the same level. The inherent difficulty is that a useful theatre space tends to find values and orientations that carry it away from total abstractness and versatility.
An allegorical park
Brittain, William Delaplaine (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1990)
node monument edge genius loci
An Anchoring Urban Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee
Ricks, Lauren Mackenzie (Virginia Tech, 2011-05-04)
This thesis proposes an urban infill cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee. By infilling seven blocks within the arts district of downtown Memphis with a new urban cemetery, further significance is given to both the city and the cemetery. Because it would be a newly built cemetery, it could initially function as an urban park and become a cemetery over time as the space is needed to remember the dead. The same elements of the cemetery would compose the park, but by allowing a slow transformation from park to cemetery, the resulting public space will carry much more meaning than either space could do alone. The cemetery connects the continuing evolution of the city with the lives of its citizens. Each block is different yet linked and intertwined, just like Memphis residents. The blocks are multi-use and as such, share the history and legacy of those who have died with those who live in and visit the city.
Aperture
Tenace, Stephen M. (Virginia Tech, 1991-01-01)
In the beginning God created the world. Waste and void, waste and void. And darkness was upon the face of the deep. And when there were men, in their various ways, they struggled in torment towards God. Blindly and vainly, for man is a vain thing, and man without God is a seed upon the wind: driven this way and that, and finding no place of lodgement and germination. They followed the light and the shadow, and the light led them forward to light and the shadow led them to darkness, Worshipping snakes or trees, worshipping devils rather than nothing: crying for life beyond life, for ecstasy not of the flesh. Waste and void. Waste and void. And darkness on the face of the deep. Choruses from "The Rock" T.S. Eliot
Architectural Narrative through Spatial Sequencing
Whitley, Marc Geoffrey (Virginia Tech, 2018-06-26)
Architecture is temporal. It is rooted in time and place and subject to the elements and actors that embody its space. As actors, we are active participants in this dynamic, whether consciously or subconsciously. Spatial comprehension is internalized through vision and augmented by touch – the body, hands, feet, and aural experiences. Within this paradigm, we perceive the passage of time and space as an infinite stream of consciousness, or narrative of events, successively linked through memory. Bernard Tschumi describes this sequence as “space, event, movement”, a fragmentary slice within the infinitely repeating sequence of our experiences. Simply existing in the world weaves us into this sequence. Out of the infinite, architects define space and develop a physical narrative through which actors engage and meaning is derived. Our syntax is the walls, ceilings, floors, solids and voids. And like writing or in film, architectural significance is based upon the juxtaposition and combination of sequential “chapters”. Although this quality is inherent to architecture, architects often undervalue supporting content for critical passages. “Programs fall into three categories: those that are indifferent to the spatial sequences, those that reinforce it, and those that work obliquely or against it” (Tschumi 159). Most architecture seems to follow the first order, or reinforce spatial sequences where it is convenient. Are we not concerned with the journey from point A to point be B?
Architecture as a Unifying Thread
Stright, Jeana Marie (Virginia Tech, 2008-05-09)
Buildings exist because humans have a natural desire for shelter and safety, but what sets one building apart from another? Expression. Whether it is a conversation about place, material, program, or a fanciful idea- architecture offers an interpretation of the ordinary, inviting questions, appreciation, or controversy. With the introduction of a position, a conversation begins, yielding a discussion. Ideas continue to grow and form, creating and reinforcing the continuously evolving world of the built environment. This project offers an interpretation of a way to blend the disparate elements of walls, program, and experience. This project achieves unity through a series of architectural gestures that reinforce the program of the building and strengthen the architectural thought of connecting unlike elements. Great spatial opportunity can be found in both the building of barriers and the destruction of them. Tension between opposite conditions has great power to set the static in motion. The age, texture and weight of the existing walls are contrasted by the lightness of the new structure that breaks through the old, revealing its nature and opening it up for appreciation. The constructed nature of the new structure is contrasted by the fluidity of the poured concrete wall that ends the building and holds the project above the old. The old then becomes a tool for appreciation, while the new represents a tangible journey through the design process. The stair is the mediator between creation and display providing a sense of rest and a new perspective. An architecture of stitches is created, forming a fabric that speaks to the past, the program, and the stated intention to maximize the coexistence of each.
Architecture: as a matter of fact
De Moya, Francisco Vicente (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1988)
As reality continues to shift from the made fact to the idea: We conclude that creativity is a state of mind; measured by what is made. It is only when extended beyond oneself that an idea can become real to more than one. We Extend thru our talents and skills. The significance of that made is its Presence measured in time
Birkett log house and addition
Williams, Warren L. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1991)
The thrust of this project is twofold. The first is to create an addition to a reconstructed two-story log house. The second is to locate this structure upon the site in such a manner as to enhance the experience of its presence during approach. The first goal is addressed by connecting two appendage structures to the rear facade of the log house by means of a narrow transitional space. The intent is to maintain this transitional space as an architectural connection between the greater masses without allowing it to become a dominant element. The arrangement of the addition massing respects the prominence of the original log structure and compliments its dog-trot configuration. The shapes of the addition masses, freestanding studio/utilities building, deck area and pool also respond to the vehicular path which culminates in a circle. The second goal, the positioning of this structure within the boundaries of the selected site, was greatly facilitated by the site's numerous attributes. These range from the historical precedent of a previous log dwelling built upon the grassy knoll of choice to the natural enclosure of the site. A U-shaped, deciduously forested valley of dramatic slope along the three enclosing sides, the site provides a seasonally changing backdrop within which the entire structure can be experienced. Further enclosing this valley along the fourth side is a small, treelined river whose woody screen is permeated only in one small spot by a ford, which had been the site's previous access.
The book of stone: a library for Blacksburg, Virginia
Stewart, James Bennett (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1991)
“For it is ultimately the function of art, in imposing a credible order upon ordinary reality, and thereby eliciting some perception of an order in reality, to bring us to a condition of serenity, stillness and reconciliation; then leave us as Virgil left Dante, to proceed toward a region where that guide can avail us no farther." T.S. Eliot This thesis is a search for an imposed credible order in a town library. As such it is simply a vehicle developing a process to produce architecture which is stable, whole and meaningful.
Carving mass: to frame the center
Stewart-Tambe, Joyce (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993)
Architecture frames life. By framing I mean that it gives individual awareness perimeters which shape the habits of the mind while the material frame supports the life of the body. We live in the center of our awareness. Some of Wallace Stevens’ poetry explores the habits and the shape of consciousness. Consider these lines: I measure myself / Against a tall tree / I find that I am much taller / For I reach right up to the sun / With my eye / And I reach to the shore of the sea / With my ear. (1) A building is a physical entity which gives us rooms and spaces. A dualism lies in thing and void because it necessarily constricts movement as well as shaping the consciousness as one moves to and fro and as one gazes into the distance. One’s desire to do these things may be frustrated by a poor building, while a well-formed building might encourage a choreography of consciousness, a mental dance. More than any other art, architecture presses upon daily life. It reminds us of the duality of mind and body. When we can enjoy the dual nature of architecture, we become more aware of our wonderful creatureness. A pleasant opposition forms between a sensed object-building and a sensing, willing, walking, inquiring creature. Tactility and other physical qualities which are sensed contribute to vital awareness. I define architecture as the art of building that serves vital feeling over time. Exterior conditions also frame life. Literal enclosure is not required. For example, a field may form a realm, that is, an ordered place under the sky. We know where we are in a realm. In a city, the parts belong together when most of them are ordered by common elements such as a street or a market square. In the United States, most familiar cities and towns are formed by the street. Often the buildings and the street make a canyon-like room for movement and activity. The life that flows through the street creates a city and nourishes it. Commerce, symbolic activities like parades and social activities like teen-age cruising maintain street life in even the smallest and most ordinary towns. The thesis project proposes a multiuse building to pull people into a downtown center. Pulaski, Virginia is the chosen town which I will describe in the next section. I begin the design with mass conceptually carved out to frame experience. The building I designed gives Pulaski a stronger downtown edge. This makes a boundary and a turning point to reinforce its identity as a place people feel proud to call home, and to renew the firm pattern of density to guide future builders and planners. This is necessary to forestall the common disintegration of the urban edge into a straggly commercial strip with disconcerting gaps and irregularity. Consider now the specific details of one small town.
A case for the extension to the Blacksburg Middle School
Miranda, Jay (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1996)
Chapel, Crematorium, and Columbaria
Im, Joann Hyohan (Virginia Tech, 1995-08-28)
Modern park-cemeteries have overcome the problems associated with cemeteries in past centuries. They usually are located away from population centers. They are designed for efficiency and are operated by professional caretakers. When loved ones are laid to rest there, we can be confident, as it is possible to be that their rest will not be disturbed by human beings. But for all we have gained in peace of mind, we have lost as much or more of the trappings that reminds us of our connections to our ancestors. Cemetery landscapes usually are banal. Neither their settings nor their designs evoke memories or renew our spirits. When we visit cemeteries, we visit another suburb, another mall, a place that "sells" us with promises of security and efficiency, a place that keeps its promises but nevertheless disappoints. Except for individual graves, there is no focal point either in the landscape or architecture of a park-cemetery to help us honor the dead or to rejoice in life. The Chapel Building is a focal point for a cemetery, the place where the dead and the living co-exist, however briefly. The ground floor of the Chapel houses the business of death. There is a place for preparation of bodies for burial, as well as a crematorium. The retaining walls cutting a section in the earth in an "L" shape is the columbaria.
The City's Edge-how architecture respond to different types of ground on a former landfill site in Lagos
Liu, Zhuoran (Virginia Tech, 2019-08-13)
In the progress of city development What's your positon in a city What's an architecture's position in a city What's the condition of the city's edge
Community Narratives for Architecture Spaces; Christiansburg Institute
Lewis, Byronaé Danielle (Virginia Tech, 2021-11-05)
Architecture is a pathway to capture memories in the physical presence. Like a charm bracelet, a path leads you through individual segments, each telling their own stories. "Community Narratives for Architecture Spaces" investigates how to choreograph design strategies around the memories of the Christiansburg Institute, a historically African American school, and its cultural legacy. Materiality, lighting, and programming articulate specific memories within the spaces of this project. It is essential to have moments highlighting the past, present, and future while individuals maneuver through the site. There is a life cycle where things must end, and new opportunities can grow from them. This cycle can be beautiful yet ugly to navigate through. Architecture highlights the essence of this cycle by portraying how beginnings can be born from the old. An old site can be transformed into a new one, creating new memories and perspectives while preserving existing ones. Christiansburg Institute encompasses all of these beliefs. This design proposal honors the life cycle of the institute.
Conceptual relations of architecture, painting, color, and education and their application in an elementary school
Wilson, Jeffrey Allen (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1996)
If the theories of Piaget (stages of cognitive development) and Bruner (anything can be taught to anyone as long as it is taught in their language) are combined and applied to an elementary school the resulting conclusion is very quickly hands-on learning. Or, more simply, elementary-aged children understand their world through tangible experiences, so teach them through tangible experiences. A child's early memory code is formed by concrete experiences (combinations of the 5 senses), but these experiences become the building blocks for their later abstract cognitive thought patterns. This theory of education is widely applied from the standpoint of teach (hands on lessons, manipulative, etc.), but is a low if not nonexistent priority in constructing the environments in our schools. The experiential aspects of our schools should not only provide for a purely more pleasing environment, but should also allow for strong behavioral imprinting experiences that would result in memory niches -- the foundation for later abstract cognitive thought patterns. This diagram shows the progression of memory coding through these stages and how the resulting thoughts would be accessed.
Connection and Differentiation: Housing for an Urban Renaissance
Krajnik, Jeffrey Donald (Virginia Tech, 2001-09-11)
As architects and planners explore ways to re-introduce housing and attract a stable population into the higher densities of urban environments, the inadequacies of both traditional urban and suburban models of housing become apparent. Issues such as entry, flow of interior space, connection between interior and exterior, dwelling identifiability, relation to the greater urban fabric and others present themselves as fertile territory for re-evaluation. This thesis explores one possible response to issues of residential form and identity in the context of a multi-use building at a prominent urban intersection. While the basic physical form of this project responds to the programatic needs of housing, allowing it to function in an efficient manner, the expression of this form attempts to speak to the individual acts of moving through and living in these dwellings. It is in elevating these activities of daily life beyond merely serving a utilitarian function that architecture finds its place; empowering them to ignite our spirits and enrich our souls. This is where architecture begins to engage in a dialogue with the dreams and aspirations we hold as a society.
Considerations for Contemporary Design and Land Use Within Existing Historical Context
Baker, Emily Ann (Virginia Tech, 2017-07-14)
The inevitable changes to the built environment over time presents the question of what contemporary design is appropriate for existing historical context. This is inherently a wicked problem that is becoming increasingly important to designers in the 21st century. Wicked problems, as the connotation implies, are those that are multi-faceted, unique, and with innumerable possible solutions (Rittel, Webber 1973). Each individual architectural project is a cog in a city’s evolving machine, therefore no one project should ever be considered unimportant. As Robert Venturi said in his “Gentle Manifesto”, a designer should strive towards “messy vitality over obvious unity” (Venturi, 1966). Finding a simple design resolution is difficult if not impossible in a complex urban city layered with centuries of architecture. It is not necessary to copy the historic building next door, nor is it appropriate to design as if a site has no neighbors. The surrounding context should be evaluated for its mass, scale, program, history, and materials, among others, to inform and inspire a contemporary designer’s work. This thesis offers no “solution”; rather a series of design considerations. These considerations are by no means prescriptive, however. My aspiration is that this thesis can be used by future designers as a tool to prompt discussion and discovery about their own site specific project.
Convictions and manifestations
De Moya, Wendy Austin (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1988)
Convictions are beliefs developed over time through careful consideration forming a base for one’s life work. Manifestations are applied beliefs forming products of the creative spirit.
Dematerializing the City
Dong, Huijuan (Virginia Tech, 2014-01-29)
The project is a local cultural center located in Gulou area in the old city center of Beijing, China. This urban intervention establishes a series of harmonious relationships between the city and the architecture, between the urban and the autonomous and between the old and the new . The pattern of the city's fabric, the local traditions, and the basic ways of life serve to guide the spatial organization and the development of architectural elements. The building is dematerialized. Paintings and diagrams are abstracted from the physical reality of the building. Drawings and models are made to further present the spatial orders and conditions. The containment of the architecure has always drawn as much attention from me as on the building itself. This thesis is more about searching for the intangible contained by physical elements.
Drawing the Analogy: Nature as Idea, Architecture as Response
Sherwood, Stuart (Virginia Tech, 2006-07-07)
This thesis attempts to establish a first design philosophy by proposing nature and architecture as mutually interactive conceits within the scope of the design process. Positing that our conceptions of "green" design are rightfully influenced by the various and often highly metaphorical social constructions of nature that precede them, an architecural exercise is then explored as a similarly constructed response. After assembling a definition of nature based in part on the climate, terrain and traditional building practices of rural western North Carolina, a house is then posed for its site on the border of the Pisgah National Forest.

Browsing by Author "Dunay, Donna W."

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