This thesis seeks to answer, how could architects design for mystery and suspense and how would the perception of those spaces change for the spectators? By looking into production designers, art directors, and screenwriters, specifically the film Rear Window (1954) by Alfred Hitchcock one can analyze their use of architecture as part of the way that they build mystery and suspense by making movies that can help test if architecture spaces that are originally designed for a different purpose can build mystery and suspense. This research re-creates one scene from the film in four different locations: three on Arizona State University Tempe campus and one in an apartment complex. These short movies tested in different architectural spaces as such as, entering and exiting of buildings, access under a building that restricts individuals from seeing who is coming in or out, enclosed architecture, and by having hallways that lead up to each other and not permitting the occupant/participant to see everything around them. After filming the movies were compared to each other and a set of drawings was made to understand important choices made in each movie. What this thesis comes to investigate are the movies which are tools architects can use in their design process. Instead of starting a project from a sketch, why not start it from a movie. As this thesis reveals the act of choosing a film, dissecting it, and re-creating the experience of the film in their own movies in different locations can create a unique project.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that impacts one’s social interaction, communication skills (both verbal and non-verbal), and cognitive function. Autism affects 1 in 60 children. Individuals with autism have trouble understanding facial expressions or social cues, and often see the world around them differently than a neurotypical individual (mainly increased sensitivity to sounds, motion, or lighting). As the name implies, autism is a spectrum, and no two individuals are alike. As the saying goes, “When you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” Movies such as Rain Man (1988) or The Accountant (2016) showcase autistic individuals who are higher-functioning; they are able to verbally communicate and live somewhat independently. Other autistic individuals, such as my brother, Tyler, are lower-functioning. Tyler is non-verbal and unable to be independent, and our day-to-day life is greatly shaped by this.<br/><br/>One thought that haunts the parents of autistic individuals is, “What happens when they’re older?” Even more scary is the question “What will happen when I’m gone?” My brother is on the autism spectrum, and my mother describes these thoughts as ones that “keep [her] up at night.” She explains, “I think it’s important for him to be completely engaged and productive, and we have that right now because we’re in our little safety bubble...that’s going to end...and it’s kind of scary.” Around 50,000 children with autism turn 18 every year in the United States, and nearly 90% of autistic individuals lose access to the services they have relied on throughout their entire lives. My hope is that architecture can help to answer this question by providing a place for adults on the autism spectrum to learn how to eventually live and work independently in the future. By implementing certain design features and design criteria to minimize the sensory overload issues commonly experienced by individuals with autism, we can create a safe space for learning for young adults on the autism spectrum.

An exploration of how architecture can react to American hyper-consumption of clothing products. With the goal to raise public awareness and create systemic, sustainable change in the fashion industry, this project synthesizes each part of manufacturing, including production, consumption, and post consumption, into one local campus. By bringing manufacturing back into the daily rhythms of an urban context and combining a prototypical mix of fashion related programs, ethically minded consumers are formed.

Architecture has the potential to promote introspection when collaborating with natural elements that invoke observation of the natural world. Through a distinct coalition with natural light, materiality, and deliberate design, a space can transcend the user into a new realm that bridges the natural and the built environment. Suppose architecture is organized systemically to solely mediate the user and the natural world, offering opportunities for observation. In that case, it may catalyze the user to access their internal processes and sensations of the world around them. The abstract philosophies of Transcendentalism as a literary form can be translated through architecture as a physical form. Examining proponents of Transcendentalism and its emphasis on nature and individualism can establish a precedent for architecture as a tool for introspection. The works of light Artist James Turrell and the role of experiential architecture further demonstrate how natural light can organically supplement the overall effect of physical space. A synthesis of these underlying paradigms can produce architecture that exceeds its physical form and built environment and, instead, enters a metaphysical realm. This thesis seeks to demonstrate that if programs are designed to be associated with nature, there is an architectural manipulation through the senses and the natural environment, possibly providing opportunities for humans to achieve an elevated sense of introspection. This particular exploration of architecture can further supplement existing design practices and philosophical theories as it joins with nature, potentially promoting an introspective impact on the user’s psyche and cognizance.

Sacred space creates a sacrality of the architecture it resides in. The research paper dissects and answers the thesis question, “what makes a space sacred,” through a research-driven design approach that delivers the thesis prompt, architecture must comprise of intentional design elements that create a physical, perceptual, and spiritual experience to validate its sacrality. The paper introduces research behind sacred architecture and its design elements, and questions how these design elements contribute to the validity of sacred architecture. The research infers that there must be an intentionality behind these design elements. The research leads to the analysis of three case studies that demonstrate the use of sacred architecture’s design elements and validates their purpose and intention. Peter Zumthor, Swiss architect, and two of his projects, the Bruder Klaus Chapel and the Kolumba Museum, demonstrate the use of intentional design elements through Peter Zumthor’s methodology and intention behind his designs. As well, the personal case study, the Holy Family Shrine, showcases sacred architecture’s design elements through the intentional use of symbolism. The analysis leads to the discussion of two design projects, Tabernacle of Humility and Campo, Sacrality Made Real, exhibit and support the analysis of Peter Zumthor’s methodology and works, along with the intentionality of design elements in sacred architecture. In conclusion, it is understood that with symbolic intentionality behind design elements, the sacrality of architecture is revealed, thus creating a physical, perceptual, and spiritual experience.

This thesis examines the benefit and need to integrate biophilic design strategies in modern architectural buildings. It discusses the extreme dissociation humanity has experienced from nature in the technological age, and the negative effects therein. Additionally, it dives into the way modern advancements have also led to a reliance upon artificial interfacing between individuals, rather than a traditional, in-person, face-to-face connection. This will further define biophilic design strategies, case studies and inspiration images of buildings in which they are already implemented, and how they can be utilized more. Lastly, it describes and displays a design concept for a youth center located at G.R. Herberger Park, interacting with the Central Arizona Project Canal. This project ultimately will be the first step in reconnecting people with nature and with each other, hopefully creating a butterfly effect that will spread throughout the city, state, and eventually the country.

The monument as a physical object has been ever present throughout human history and as a program it oscillates between architecture and art. The motives, messages, and forms of representation found in historical monumentality are longstanding. With the maturation of the digital age in conjunction with post humanist design conditions in the near future, the existing mode of physical monumentality faces an existential crisis. This moment however provides an opportunity for the rebirth of the physical monument. This thesis seeks to explore, develop, and interrogate how new forms of monumentality can be adaptive, flexible, purposeful, and longstanding. Through the use of speculative future narratives, four unique approaches to future monumentality will be developed and followed through five snapshots over a thousand year period. Speculative future narratives will be created using the four future archetypes of Growth, Decline, Discipline, and Transformation as developed by Professor Jim Dator, Director of the Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The transitions between these four archetypes will provide societal and tectonic challenges that each monument will have to respond to. Once narratives and visual representations of these new monuments are created, they will be arranged in an analysis matrix using each of the four narratives and their five individual timeline moments which highlight and examine specific trends of spatial use, human interaction, societal relations, etc. From this analysis, an understanding of what the principles of a New Monumentality are can be determined in order to answer the question, how can architecture adapt the physical monument for a digital and post-humanist design future?