Samuel Ganton’s thesis wrestles with the complexity of the Maracaibo Basin through storytelling and design. Through the speculative design of a thunderstorm observatory sited near the epicentre of the Catatumbo Lightning, it asks: what kind of architecture might participate in cycles of transience and change, rather than obscuring them? How might architecture extend sensory perception and become an instrument for connecting humans more completely to the storm that is our world?
Tactics to Tiny Finding Your Way Home Sheng Wu To minimize our personal living space goes against our North American culture and values, one that has been built upon our abundance of space and excess of material goods. In our “bigger is better” culture, homes have continued to grow larger in the past decades despite shrinking household sizes. But we have passed a tipping point. As a society, we are paying well above our means...
Submechanophilia Snehanjali Sumanth Twenty-three federal offshore oil platforms line the coast of Southern California for approximately 200 miles from Point Concepcion, Santa Barbara County to Huntington Beach, Oxford County. Installed from1968 to 1989, they are some of the oldest platforms in the world and currently face the process of complete decommissioning after having consumed the site’s 200-million-year-old reserves in just over a century. The site holds a heavy history with oil; from one of the...
City Familiaris A Study in Domesticating Infrastructures Sarah Gertler Problems associated with hyper density in Canada are fairly new, but they often create innate conflicts for all those who dwell in the afflicted areas. CityPlace, in Toronto is one such place. The project is the largest master-planned community within Toronto and is also densest neighbourhood in the city. The model for its development is known as Vancouverism and the podium – tower is the essential building block of this style. The main...
Reconstruction Site Re-designing the disposable Expo Scott Proudfoot Building, supported by the practice of architecture, is churning resources into waste at an alarming rate. Our method of construction has its inevitable conclusion in a pile of rubble. Lamentably, the natural resources we build with are finite, and our exploitation of these has nearly reached its peak. As humanity strives for a renewable energy future, architecture must engage in the renewable use of materials. In the long term future,...
Sprezzatura Dennis Tang The dramatic spectacle is dazzling, alluring, and seductive. Glimmering, it draws you into a maze of turns, distractions, and clues. The sparkling veil conceals objects of desire, while displaying them with pride. Slits entice desiring glimpses revealing moments of clarity ina shimmering cloud. These glimpses paint a picture of the world beyond, with your imagination finishing the partial image. Never is everything apparent; a centrefold would destroy all illusions. As your interaction...
Amanda Ghantous will be defending her thesis titled “Three Minutes to Midnight” on Wednesday September 7th at 12:30pm at the BRIDGE Centre for Architecture+Design. Her thesis is an exploration of the disconnection between the idealistic presentation of the world as depicted by utopian-fueled architecture and the everyday reality of human behaviour.
Jaliya’s thesis explores the meaning of home, and the role it plays in his relationship to architecture. It rests in the transitional space between Canada and his native Sri Lanka, where he spent three months rediscovering his connection to his birthplace. His thesis is entitled Monsoon Notebook, and it records, presents and re-presents his travels as a means of architectural grounding and self-discovery.
Stela’s thesis explores the contributive role of the genius locus, or “spirit of place”, in the identity of cities and the production of meaningful places. The research addresses the analysis of genius loci as historical phenomena as well as their modern role within suburban landscapes. Focusing on the suburban city of Mississauga, urban and architectural failures bring the agency of architecture into question in order to contest architecturally indifferent development. The design intervention embodies Mississauga’s genius locus – an urban simulacrum born from commerce, speculation, and the resistant debris of city growth – into a matrix of architectural and landscape inserts. Stela’s defence will take place on Monday February 8, 2016 at 12:00 pm in the Loft.
Katherine’s thesis explores the opportunities provided by this concept of ownership and mobility. Individual units could become highly tuned to the person(s) occupying them – morphing each unit into an indispensable platform from which users occupy a city. This new concept of home would allow an increasingly mobile population to resituate with ease – finally reconstituting home with our wandering lifestyle. She will defend her thesis on Wednesday December 16th, 2015 at 10 AM in ARC 1001 [Cummings Lecture Theatre].
