Archinect - Features

Understanding a City’s Image: Exploring New York Through the Spatial Experiences and Perceptions of Its Users

2023-03-31T12:45:00-04:00

For our latest installment of the Thesis Review series, we connected with New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) M.Arch graduate Jay Patel to discuss his project, Urbanary — Enjoy the City While Moving.

Patel explained that his work reflects the perception of urban spaces. He uses the city of New York as a reference to investigate "how a human-oriented city image is formed with people’s perceptions to design and define future cities and spaces." Patel's thesis project aims to explore a concept that "emphasizes how each urban location has a distinctive character that has been shaped by human interaction."

In our interview, he discussed his motivations for exploring the topic of architectural perception, urban usability, how Kevin Lynch's work influenced his research approach, and he shared his own path toward licensure in both India and the U.S.

Gehry Prize Winners Reimagine Funerary Architecture

2022-12-12T18:12:00-05:00

Thesis projects aim to push students outside of their comfort zones and foster new versions of architectural thinking. For our latest installment of Archinect's Thesis Review series, SCI-Arc M.Arch graduates Ian Wong and Sue Choi discuss the architectural tones and typologies of cemeteries and funerary customs in their project, Earthly Passage.

Winners of the 2022 Gehry Prize for best thesis project, Wong and Choi explained, "Earthly Passage is a new model of funerary architecture." While their topic may seem unconventional, the duo explains the importance of exploring and respecting these spaces for the deceased. Their project exhibits a place for "funerals to take place, as well as subsequent visits," highlighting improved experiences for mourners to pay their respects. They continue by adding, "culturally, our thesis highlights a program or function of space/architecture that is often uncomfortable, or taboo, to talk about."

During this interview, they discuss their motivation to...

Architecture, Consumerism, and Human Rights: On ‘Subverting the Narrative of Power Systems in Thailand’ with Shopping Malls

2022-07-08T15:29:00-04:00

Thesis projects offer an exciting glimpse into the minds of emerging designers and their unique architectural perspectives as they navigate through their careers. This is the case for Syracuse University B.Arch graduates Pin Sangkaeo and her collaborative research partner Benson Joseph. Together they explore the practice of merit-making and how political tactics and consumerism have impacted Thailand's social and political agendas through their thesis project, Temples of Consumerism.

According to Sangkaeo, the project "investigates the role of shopping malls as physical tools of maintaining the status quo, used by those who hold political powers in order to superimpose their ideologies on the collective citizens and perpetuate the systems."

Kicking off this season's 2022 Thesis Review series, the duo discusses their project along with Sangkaeo sharing her own experiences and findings while abroad in Bangkok. They also discuss their plans for the future as both continue their resea...

SCI-Arc Graduate Responds to Pandemic by Exploring the Idea of ‘Openness in a Contemporary Urban Setting’ Using Downtown LA

2021-11-23T13:32:00-05:00

The pandemic has influenced students in more ways than one, further questioning their views on the state of architecture today. For this iteration of Archinect's Thesis Review series, SCI-Arc graduate Abdullah Tahseen (M.Arch) explores the opportunities of "openness in a contemporary urban setting."

In his thesis project, An Act of Opening, Tahseen uses Downtown Los Angeles as a backdrop to explore the question: "How can architecture establish openness by encouraging environments that cultivate creativity, human engagement, and collaboration through the design of captivating and inventive spaces?" During this interview, Tahseen explains how his thesis was inspired by the transformation of workspaces during the pandemic. He also shares his thoughts on the topic of "thesis" itself and how he feels about the industry today.

Tulane Graduate Explores the Future of Chicago’s Post-industrial Riverfronts by ‘Re-investing in Productivity’

2021-11-10T13:45:00-05:00

Thesis projects provide architecture students with a gateway into further exploring, questioning, and postulating design solutions. According to Tulane School of Architecture M.Arch graduate Evan Warder, thesis not only serves as a "one-dimensional" variable within an architecture education. It also serves as a "feedback loop on its contribution to the field and the outside world."

With this in mind, Warder decided to use his thesis as an avenue to explore architecture and its interplay between the disciplines of aquatic biology, landscape architecture, urban planning, and social work. In his thesis project, "The Post-Industrial Chicago River: A Social, Productive, and Ecological Urban Structure," Warder uses the Chicago River as a place to explore future infrastructures within industrial areas. He shares: "Chicago presents the opportunity to create a comprehensive solution through reinvestment in productivity, which provides jobs and needed food through high-density vertical farmi...

SCI-Arc Graduate and 2021 Gehry Prize Winner Proposes New Perspectives Between City Structures and Augmented Reality Holograms

2021-10-13T09:00:00-04:00

Continuing with Archinect's commitment to highlighting students and their academic work, we connected with SCI-Arc M.Arch II graduate Burak Celik. As the 2021 Gehry Prize Winner for best thesis, Celik talks to us about his project "Super•positioning." He uses Los Angeles as a backdrop for exploring architecture and its relationship between digital and analog, reality and speculation, and how the use of superpositioning allowed him to question other architectural perspectives. The word superposition is defined as "the placement of one thing above or on top of another" and "the combination of two distinct physical phenomena of the same type (such as spin or wavelength) so that they coexist as part of the same event." Celik uses this as the basis for thesis exploration.

"Today's digital culture would be embraced by architects not only as a means of software and tools but also as a complete architectural experience by the viewer," Celik explains and continues by sharing: "Through superp...

SCI-Arc’s Undergraduate Thesis Students Elucidate Their Final Projects

2021-05-26T09:00:00-04:00

Each year, Undergraduate Thesis at SCI-Arc prepares students to articulate, propose, and defend their ideas and positions on architecture as well as engage with professionals as peers and colleagues. As acknowledged by Undergraduate Program Chair Tom Wiscombe, “While part of our role at SCI-Arc is to produce new conceptual frameworks for our time, I would argue that in 2021, ideas without strategies for implementation are no match for the unprecedented ideological frameworks being literally built up around us. It is for this reason that Undergraduate Thesis is positioned precisely between ideas and how they ‘land.'"

SCI-Arc conducted an open discussion with its graduating undergraduate students to learn about their work and experiences during their final year. Together they reminisce and share how their time at the institution has provided them with an architectural outlook that has prepared them for what lies ahead.