do they have to be one word? i guess i'm old school with the long titles. so, i'll put myself out there for a little ribbing.


the titles of my two (yes, two) thesis projects:

showboat: a vessel for the (re-)presentation of the live arts (1991)

developing the field of encounter: a trio of catalyst projects for louisville's shippingport center (2004)

btw, my posting of these as among the 'greatest thesis titles ever' assumes that this is a little tongue-in-cheek. i mean, how could 'nepenthe' not be from someone with a sense of humor, right?

i think everyone should post THEIR finest. real ones, please. dates might give us some context, help us understand buzz-words and trends.

I'm up for a little ribbing myself. Fire away.

"The Afterbirth of Nihilistic and Nostalgic Irrationalism"

I just hope that thesis titles are moving away from the over-used colons or em dashes.

My Boy Rob was doing his on the relationships between topography and building typology...

the name for his project was:

Terra-ism.

Of course, this was post-911 so he changed it to landFORMation

I'm gonna sit back and enjoy this thread. As much as I love my fellow architects, no other group comes close for contrived writing, overused buzzwords and general silliness when titling a project.

what ... have you forgotten the military ?

and the white house

Department of 'Homeland' Security. Wha ?

Let's keep this one architectural please....

Some more....

"A Theater in Rome: A place to see and be seen"
"Parallax"
"Fil(MASS)ite"
"Palimp(IN)sestus"
"Hip Hop Architecture"

sorry, can't restrict this one to one word

this is a real thesis title from carleton university in ontario and it comes via a supervisor i had in chicago -- must give him full credit:

the evagination of syndesmological planes

Thingness of the Thing...... it was pre Fantastic Four.

The Process of Making

Mine was boring:

"Gallery/House"

Completed in 1995. In the archives at C-brook, ether.

Love yours, Steven Ward - anything using (re) or separating ANY word into discreetly readable parts with () is so 90's.

I did title an undergrad paper for an elective wildlife biology class cleverly: "Ugly Little Suckers: A Life History of the Vampire Bat". I got an A.

Slightly off track. One of my goo friends drives me nuts. Every board, Powerpoint, anything he makes is (xxx)xxxx or the real killer, he precedes everything with ////. This one time he wrote ///Spong(e). I don't even understand it. He did it to emphasize how Koreans pronounce sponge, spong-y but how that worked with (e) and what it had to do with his project, I will never know. Our critic was confused about that as well.

Please dont feel embarrassed. You are in the nest.

While researching past thesis projects in the archives I ran across one from the late 1980's named.

"Nice F**kin' Model"

It was an urban planning thesis and I can only assume he pulled the title from a line in the movie Beetlejuice. I'm sure some burned out professor let that one slide.

brian frels, didn't you post a thread here looking for another word for "afterbirth"?

how about an honest approach...

visual masterbation - winning a jury with object fetish

I will take a dash over the {-}[]\ trend.

I prefer the
Short Punchy Title: Longer Explanatory Subtitle for Clarification
format.

for example:

Suburban Transformations: spatial and programmatic implications of a contemporary community in transition

or

Ritual-Making: Choreographing Paths of Smoke

or

In the Wake of Carnevale: Ritual Wandering as a Prelude to Paradise

or, if you're in the mood for a combo,

SubTROPIC HOUSING: locating [isolation] redevelopment in KEY WEST

and finally,

The Space Clairvoyant : a Metaphysical Choereography





(names withheld to protect the innocent)

The Title : Phrase is good, but for added pretension, there has to be random capitals and brackets thrown in. Puns for extra points.

Such as was(her) machine: a familial theSIS

Fin D'Ou T Hou S by Eisenman sets the standard.

"The dynamics of interbeing and monological imperatives in Dick and Jane: a study in psychic transrelational gender modes."

Academia, here I come!

"The Logic of Context: On and After the Architectures of Ludwig Wittgenstein"

Liberty Bell-
Yes I did post looking for a different word. I never came up with an appropriate alternative before the deadline.

Architecture and the Archaeological Excess: Sir Arthur Evans' reconstuctions at Knossos

I know the guy who did Hip Hop Architecture!!!

Best thesis typo has to be "Pubic and Private Space"

J......We are waiting......

Has anyone seen record this month? Someone has been naughty and is guilty of (RE)peating a pointless name......

"prelude to palimpsest"

Mine: Why architects don't speak in coherent sentences: architectural education 1990-2000.

i'm ashamed to say that i fell victim to the [brackets] trend back in 2003...mine was...

PARK[ing] SURFACES: infrastructural urbanism for st. petersburg

We had a studio assignment called Park/Park.

i called mine "backgroung is the new foreground"

it was my little homage to the kings of convenience, i.e., "quiet is the new loud"

nice people (s)wallow-seminal thoughts on fluidity

You'll have to go a long way to rival this gem from the alterntive field of linguistics.

“Y’all Niggaz Better Recognise: Hip Hop’s Dialetctical Struggle for Recognition ”

Essay contributed to the collection Hip Hop and Philosophy: Rhyme 2 Reason

Three Car Garage:
The Role of Architecture in the Production of Luxury / The role of Luxury in the Production of Architecture.

Boring, with repetition and unnecessary capitals. I still like it.

adso,

dont forget the even better subtitle

'Moving Arrows, Eros and other Errors'

Softscapes