Scholarly Commons @ MiamiOH
Scholarly Commons is a service of the Miami University libraries. Research and scholarly output included here has been selected and deposited by the individual university departments and centers on campus. To learn more about Scholarly Commons, please visit our FAQ page.
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Recent Submissions
Re-imagining the Spaces In Between: Design Interventions to Transform Urban Voids in Downtown Dayton into Active, Breathing Areas
(2025) Abed, Joynal;
In today's tremendously growing and busy urban landscapes, pockets of underutilized space, known as urban voids, stand as untapped opportunities for creating activated public spaces encouraging community engagement and social interaction. The thesis delves into the transformative potential of infrastructural interventions in reimagining these neglected spaces. Reclaiming and integrating these urban voids can create breathing spaces enhancing social cohesion for the city dwellers in high density areas of the city.
Drawing upon a synthesis of theoretical frameworks, empirical analyses, and insights from some key practitioners this thesis explores the multifaceted dimensions of urban voids and the critical role that infrastructural interventions play in reshaping their urban fabric, fostering social connectivity, and promoting community engagement. Through a comprehensive review of the literature and case studies, it further examines the challenges and opportunities associated with infrastructural interventions in high-density urban areas, considering factors such as accessibility, inclusivity, active use, and sustainability. Ultimately, the findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how infrastructural interventions can redefine urban voids as vibrant hubs for social interaction and community gathering, thereby enriching the fabric of high-density urban environments in the United States.
CRAFTING RESILIENT COMMUNITIES: The Intersection of New Vernacular Materials and Adaptive Design in Public Architecture
(2025) Ahamed, Syed Saif Uddin;
This thesis investigates the transformative role of public architecture in fostering socio-environmental resilience through the integration of new vernacular materials, adaptive resilient design, and community engagement. Grounded in the context of Chattogram’s shipbreaking yard, a site marked by industrial intensity, ecological fragility, and human labor, it reimagines how architecture can emerge from within rather than be imposed from above. The project navigates complex intersections of material reuse, cultural memory, and economic precarity, offering an architectural framework that is deeply rooted yet globally adaptable.
Through case studies, theoretical frameworks, and design prototypes, the research explores how participatory processes and local craft can align with advanced digital techniques to form a responsive design language. The work embraces adaptive-transformative modularity, utilizing flexible design tactics that allow architecture to evolve with time and need. By centering the voices and labor of marginalized communities, the thesis positions architecture as a mediator between tradition and innovation, the human and the industrial, the ephemeral and the enduring.
Ultimately, this thesis proposes a contextual, inclusive, and scalable approach to architecture—one that not only addresses housing affordability, climate adaptability, and cultural continuity but also catalyzes dignity, participation, and long-term sustainability in public space design.
AT WATER'S EDGE: IMAGINING FUTURES ON SHIFTING GROUND
(2026) Napier, Amilie Marie;
This thesis investigates architectural strategies for engaging flood-prone landscapes through coexistence rather than control. As climate change disproportionately impacts vulnerable communities, the project emphasizes the need for culturally responsive and collaborative approaches to design. Combining international precedents with physical modeling experiments, it examines structural and spatial responses to unstable ground and fluctuating water levels. The design proposal develops a research and education campus in the wetlands of East New Orleans, using elevated structures and low-impact infrastructure to support environmental stewardship, observation, and learning. Together, these strategies form a flexible framework that encourages architects to ask better questions, work with affected communities, and design more responsibly for the shifting conditions at water’s edge.
SINKING GROUNDS, RISING CHALLENGES ARCHITECTURE OF RESILIENCE: DESIGNIING FOR CLIMATE MIGRATION IN ISLE DE JEAN CHARLES
(2026) Jourabchi, Yekta;
Climate change is forcing communities worldwide to relocate as rising seas, erosion, and flooding make land uninhabitable. Isle de Jean Charles in southern Louisiana, home to the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe, has lost 98 percent of its land, changing from a wide marsh landscape into a narrow strip surrounded by water. The government relocation to New Isle offered physical safety, but it did not fully address cultural continuity, community trust, or emotional connection to ancestral land. This research explores how architecture can respond to climate-induced migration while preserving identity, memory, and belonging. It asks whether communities can continue living with water rather than only retreating from it. Through mapping, field observation, and community-based analysis, the project proposes an amphibious and expandable framework for Isle de Jean Charles. The design combines floating platforms, elevated bridges, oyster reef systems, and culturally grounded programs such as a fishing hub, cultural center, festival ground, workshops, and temporary gathering spaces. The project is organized in phases so it can grow, adapt, or move as the landscape changes. Instead of seeing relocation as separation, this thesis imagines architecture as both shelter and a cultural vessel, protecting lives while keeping memory, tradition, and collective identity alive for future generations.
THE PUBLIC PITCH: REIMAGINING THE STADIUM PRECINCT AS A COMMUNITY ANCHOR
(2026) Richards, Kiran J.;
The Cincinnati riverfront area circulating West of Paycor stadium is underdeveloped and lacks community inclusion. Additionally, the current sports program is privatized and gated off, resulting in a divide between public and private. As time has progressed this area has seen various development proposals, illustrating the need to reinvigorate the area and turn unappealing parking lots into community green spaces. One such project even proposes enlarging the privatized area by expanding the gated practice field area, further reducing the community’s access to the riverfront. Consequently, these projects do not provide a substantial solution that reinvigorates the area and blends the public and private. Thus, it fails to strengthen social belonging and expand upon Cincinnati’s longstanding sporting culture, ultimately losing the focus on community. Community-centered sports infrastructure, accompanied by new community spaces, offers that solution. This design direction intends to provide the community with the opportunity to get involved and immerse themselves in the rich sporting atmosphere that Cincinnati exudes, while enjoying the green space development that follows on from the Banks Development, and creates a beautiful environment that flows across the entirety of the riverfront.