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Browsing by Author "Kane, Brian P."

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Fitness, Flexibility, and Suspension: An Aquatics Facility on Washington, D.C.'s Southwest Waterfront
    Biesiadny-Mrstik, Michelle Marie (Virginia Tech, 2004-05-13)
    To create a legible building, the structure's form must describe and reinforce the mission of the organization that inhabits it. This proposal for a regional competition, training and recreational aquatics facility demonstrates ideas of physical fitness through an exploration of muscles, cables, tension, joints, and bones. The building is part of a larger urban strategy for redeveloping the Washington Channel waterfront in Southwest Washington, D.C. Early images of transformed beach glass, thread, and basswood generated the inspiration for the basic architectural components: the wall, the columns, and the suspended jewels. The following document gives definition to the basic elements.
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    The Future of Parkways in the Landscape
    Loon, Leehu (Virginia Tech, 2003-04-24)
    Since the Depression era there has been an evolution in parkway usage. Parkways have outlived their recreational function and now must also serve as routes to recreational facilities. Since the elemental use of parkways has drastically changed, questions of how and why beg to be answered. How has parkway design and construction changed from the Depression era to today in terms of views, alignment, vegetation, natural and cultural features, and parkway details. How is parkway design and construction different from that of typical roadways; and how does this information effect the future design and construction of parkways? In addition, why can parkways no longer serve the same purpose that they did in the past? This thesis examines these questions through the creation of the Lorton - Laurel Hill Parkway. The main characteristics studied in this thesis will continue to be vital in future parkway design and construction. This thesis expresses that parkways can no longer serve as a destination, but instead must become an introduction to a recreational facility. Parkways will become increasingly important in the future as they can provide relief to congested roadways while simultaneously providing the motorist with an aesthetically pleasing entrance to recreational facilities. In the future, the components studied here must be instituted into highway and road engineering. The construction of motorways that incorporate parkway design principles will create more successful and vibrant routes between urban centers and their surrounding communities, and in so doing will increase the quality of life of its population.
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    a garden in the sky
    Russ, Jennifer Lynn (Virginia Tech, 2004-05-13)
    We live in an increasingly urbanized world as people migrate to cities for employment and cultural benefits. Growing and dense urban populations contribute heavily to water pollution and energy waste contributing to global biodiversity extinction. At the same time, contemporary urban areas deliver diminishing returns to residents as cities become cramped, unhealthy, and unattractive. The rooftops of urban buildings offer exciting opportunities for remedying these trends. New rooftop designs highlight the need for more plant life and green space in urban areas, improve energy efficiency, and offer urban residents gardens to enjoy and relax in. Rooftops can enhance buildings in urban areas through landscape design, transforming neglected space into valuable real estate that provides ecological and economic services. Well designed rooftops can enhance property values, assist with primary on-site storm water management, help build energy efficiency, mitigate the urban hear island effect, and filter air and water. A good green roof exists in symbiosis with its neighbors and the city at large. Contemporary rooftop design strives for an ethical stewardship of the earth. I have chosen to design a green roof around the aesthetics and traditions of Japanese horticulture. Japanese landscape design evolved to maximize space and create intricate gardens in small areas and is deep in symbolism and ritual upkeep.
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    How Form and Function Create Community in the Middle Landscape
    Keith, Ryan H. (Virginia Tech, 2003-04-10)
    The middle landscape, more commonly referred to as Suburbia, has become spatially discontinuous, lacking the cohesive union, open spaces and city centers that once defined community. Presently, the middle landscape's community spaces do not offer the opportunity for familiar and chance encounters or ritual activity. Large-scale housing development in Northern Virginia and in the mid-Atlantic region is continually segregating and ultimately destroying community and all links to the area's history. Located in Southern Fairfax County, the newly abandoned Lorton Central and Maximum Security Prison Facility provides an opportunity to serve as a catalyst for community in this area. This thesis investigates the historic precedence for creating successful community centers. The author's personal investigation is focused upon using form and function to accomplish this vision. By adaptively reusing the existing architecture alongside new construction, the intent is to create a dense urban town center at the abandoned historic site.
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    Structural Features Related to Tree Crotch Strength
    Farrell, Robert William (Virginia Tech, 2003-03-25)
    Crotches were cut out of red maple (Acer rubrum), callery pear (Pyrus calleryana), and sawtooth oak (Quercus acutissima) trees (2.5â -7â d.b.h.) and then pulled apart in an engineering testing machine to identify physical parameters correlated with crotch strength. Parameters measured included the diameter of the branch and of the trunk above and below the crotch, angle of the branch and branch bark ridge, and the length of the crotch and the branch bark ridge. The force required to break each sample was used to calculate breaking strength based on the formula for bending stress. Each parameter was tested for correlation with crotch strength within the individual species and for the three species combined. The ratio of branch diameter over crotch width had the highest correlation coefficient for crotch strength. Branch angle was also correlated with crotch strength but not as highly as the ratio of the diameters. V-shaped crotches (those with included bark) were significantly weaker than U-shaped crotches for all species. The ratio of the two stem diameters greatly influenced the manner in which the crotches broke. In crotches where the branch diameter was 2/3 the size of the trunk or smaller, the crotch broke by being pulled directly out of the trunk. Crotches with branches more than 2/3 the diameter of the trunk broke when the trunk split longitudinally and had significantly lower strength values. These results indicate that increased crotch strength results from a small branch diameter relative to that of the trunk.
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    Time in the Landscape: Designing for Perpetuity
    Taylor, Louise H. (Virginia Tech, 2004-05-21)
    Landscape is dynamic. All the elements in the landscape are in a continual process of change. There is growth, expansion, weathering, disintegration, decay and renewal. Change is the very substance of things and it is through these changes that we register the passage of time. This thesis explores the concept of material duration and its application to landscape design. Duration is a complex measure of time. This thesis adapts a definition of duration developed in the field of finance to explore time in the design of an urban cemetery. The design embodies the concept of a cemetery with a "constant duration". This lasting quality of constant duration is a persistence that retains at its core the essence of the landscape while embracing the unavoidable and indispensable material changes. To design with constant duration is to analyze and chart a design as a journey through time.
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    Walls That Can Talk: City Museum for Istanbul
    Ertekin, Elif (Virginia Tech, 2004-06-04)
    My thesis; "City Museum for Istanbul" tells the story of Istanbul . The project; from its plans to its elevations and sections is designed by a clear understanding and classification of the city and its long history. Every detail that has been inserted in the building has been used in Istanbul, is a proof of something that belongs to the city and the taste of its people. The most striking characteristic of the museum is; its giant and powerful walls. The idea of using walls came from the fact that Istanbul was founded as a walled city. Following the history of Istanbul, I picked up the most important aspects of the city and with respect to their original functions, I used them in my design. The city walls were just the beginning; they helped me to divide my site into different parts, defining spaces and handling every function in the museum. From exhibition areas to courtyards, offices to the cafeterias everything happens between the narrow, high and massive walls. Their appearances and the materials change depending on their responsibilities; that is how they start to talk and where the journey of Istanbul begins...