Thesis is the quest to uncover, investigate and define the inherent, personal architectural principles that drive design. The thesis project is the vehicle that gives the boundaries and construct within which the discovery process takes place. Studying the thesis project as well as studio work from previous years is the process used to uncover where the opportunities for architecture lie.

The opportunities for discovery are found where forms, elements and/or materials meet, the connections. These connections are affected by the site and program, creating a unique structure for each project. The pulling apart of structure and materials to reveal what 'is,' provides the basis of these separations and connections. The separations show the individual components of the connection, allowing for clarity of structure. The place in which these components meet is the threshold.

Threshold is the key to this thesis and design. There have been many theories relating to the concept of threshold that have affected my thoughts and apply to this thesis design. In historical order, Plato’s Theory of Opposites, Aristotle's Theory of Contrariety, Van Eyck's Twin Phenomenon, Venturi's Both-And, Norberg-Schulz's Intermediary Objects, and von Meiss's Threshold Theory. Each theory deals with the connection between contradictory or opposing phenomenon. It is at the threshold that these phenomenon or forces are articulated. In studying the theories and the thesis design three clear types of threshold are apparent. They are separating, mediating and transitional. For all types, the threshold is where architecture comes alive.

The program and site for the thesis project gives a context in which to study architecture. The project chosen for thesis study is a Unitarian Universalist Church for the New River Valley Fellowship in Blacksburg, Virginia. The ideology of the Unitarian Universalist religion as well as the specific views of the Blacksburg congregation are important to the selection of the site, the division of the spaces, and the design of the structure. The program was set out by the congregation for the new facility recently completed. A new site was chosen in Blacksburg. The ideology of the Blacksburg congregation in combination with the program and site create boundaries for the thesis project. The design process takes them all into account, creating an inherent order and hierarchy to the building.

The thesis design is affected on all levels by the need to separate and reveal the structure, to articulate the joint, and explore the "in-between realm." This investigation of threshold is interwoven into all the design explorations such as geometry, path, structure, form and construction. The resulting building, its elements and materials, create the character of the building. The experience of sequence, color, form and feel of each place.