For the duration of 700 years part of the Iberian Peninsula was ruled by Muslims under the name of Al-Andalus. In that period a unique architectural vernacular was established combining the traditional Islamic architecture from cities such as, Damascus, Cairo, and Baghdad, with the locals who have better familiarity with the properties of the land. This combination produced buildings that successfully address the site and its surroundings, and create a healthy, comfortable, and aesthetically unique architecture.

This architectural combination resulted in innovative methods of designing the spatial qualities that was a vast improvement over the architecture of Visigoth. The courtyard of Alhambra is an example of ways to introduce natural light and ventilation, but also give an aesthetic of mysticism and spiritual properties. Meanwhile the Great Mosque of Cordoba show a logical approach of organizing arches that introduces an element of plasticity in space serving the function of the ceremonial rituals.

The architecture Spain from the late 19^th century to the middle of the 20^th have been criticized of being a shallow imitation of the styles that inhabited the region. However the adaptation of elements from the architecture of Andalusia usually resulted on buildings that project a sense of rational values and successful approach to modernity. These examples showcases the understanding of spaces in a functional means.

The research aims to analyze the successful elements in the Moors architecture of spatial qualities, and investigate the methods that architects from the 19^th and 20^th century adapted these elements in their architecture.

The economic prosperity that resulted from rapid urbanization during the middle to late 19^th century provided the Catalonians with the awareness, resources, and wealth needed to find a cultural identity. Modernisme was the artistic and architectural response to the Industrialization of Catalonia as well as the Reiaxenca. This paper will discuss how the strong cultural identity expressed through the works and attitude of Modernista Josef Puig i Cadafalch solidified the Catalonian character during the critical days of the early 20^th century. His involvement in politics, history, and architecture gave him the necessary tools to intelligently contribute to the Catalonian search for identity.

By examining this topic, I will argue that Cadafalch embraced the Modernisme style by staying true to the properties of materials, acknowledging function with aesthetics, and creating asymmetrical and dynamic forms. These works reflected the optimism of the current day and resisted the historicist tendency to look to bygone days as inspiration. Modernisme was a lifestyle that allowed Catalonians to express their societal affluence.

I will accomplish this investigation by studying both primary and secondary sources. The primary sources I will study will be the Architect’s personal drawings, sketches and writings. These works will help to gain an insight into the design process of the time. For secondary sources, I will seek out accounts of the political and cultural atmosphere in Catalonia during the early 20^th century. This will allow a deeper look into how the Catalonian people experienced the Modernisme lifestyle in both practice and attitude.

During the late 1900’s, Spain encountered a new spirit and sense of optimism, one phase of which was ushered in by Franco’s dictablanda. This new leniency allowed for more freedom in not only politics or social constructs, but also architecture. One very obvious example of this optimism in architecture is illustrated through Miguel Fisac’s bone architecture.

Miguel Fisac searched for innovative ways to create architectural and structural details. His bone-like structures varied in size depending on the building, but Fisac’s architecture always embodied a natural sense of structure, due to his continued use of hollow prestressed concrete. His groundbreaking developments regarding material and detail during the postwar period associate him with the modernization of Spanish architecture. This paper will argue that his work has done so by influencing work of architects to follow him such as MVRDV and Ensamble Studio.

In order to support this argument, drawings and writings of Fisac himself will be utilized as primary sources, whereas works published by others such as Javier Barrallo and Santiago Sánchez-Beitia and Sofia Balters will be used as secondary sources. These documents will illustrate the clear similarities between the work of Fisac and the work that followed him, proving that his work has influenced specific projects that fall into the category of modern Spanish architecture.

Spanish architecture is riddled with various architecture influences over the course of history. In particular, the influences of Moorish and Jewish styles on Spanish architecture has been present since the Inquisition. Moorish and Jewish art and architecture was coveted by the Spanish, but the culture was refuted and discouraged in Spain. One thing that should be made apparent is that Spain was always in search of “purely” Spanish architectural identity, when in actuality Spain was always a country of many different peoples with many different cultures. This cultural variety brought diversity in what was thought to be “purely” Spanish. Geometries, materials, and ornament from these influences can be seen in their mid-twentieth century architecture as well. However, Spain never truly owns up to the influence of other cultures on their “pure” Spanish architecture. This investigation will analyze references to Spain’s Jewish and Moorish heritage, and it will argue that, despite the anti-Semitic rhetoric, Spanish architects knowingly accepted Jewish and Moorish influence in their work.

Analyzing texts from Secundino Zuazo, anti-Semitic rhetoric of Luis Moya, Luis Gutierrez Soto’s design for the Ministry of the Air Building, and the works of Antoni Gaudi are the starting points at which these relationships between Jewish and Moorish influences on modern Spanish architecture begin to unfold. Looking at how the architects of some of these successful works came about their ideas, what or who influenced them, and the culture that comes behind it.

In the historic past the two-meter thick surrounding roman walls of Barcelona intended to protect the city. At 1850 the walls constrained Barcelona’s immaterial and material growth, the former of rapid industrialization yet deteriorated quality of life and the latter of increased physical urbanization. The l’Eixample, or Cerdá plan, is the resultant solution to dissolve these issues and expand the city. Launched in 1859, the visionary plan conceptualized a network-oriented approach far ahead of Cerdá’s time. His plan was substantially more complete than others in that his approach was based in an egalitarian grid, an economic proposal, and a comprehensive circulation system. The Catalan engineer’s controversially selected plan reimagined the city’s preoccupation with hygiene, traffic, and equality to which he coins the term “urbanism.”

This paper will first describe the city’s existing conditions and how Cerdá was receptive to them. Secondly, it will explore how he develops theory and why it was pioneering in the context of an emerging urban planning movement. Given the most characteristic features of Barcelona’s identity can be directly attributed to the Cerdá Plan, is it a relevant case study? Although much research has been conducted on l’Eixample itself, the following will analyze how Cerdá’s 19^th century urban planning strategies influenced the planning of 20^th century cities, a topic few others have divulged. Investigation will consult Ildefons Cerdá’s 1867 text “The General Theory of Urbanization,” a primary source, as well as Ebenezer Howard’s “Garden Cities of To-morrow” a secondary source, to comparatively analyze practice and theory.

Numerous studies have been conducted to explain and understand the relationship between the navigational behavior of customers and layout of department stores to increase sales. One particular phenomenon discussed is route angularity effect, defined as: increasing the number of turns within a path also increases a person’s estimate of distance within that path. Through the interpretation of this data, the question arises, “In what specific ways does the route angularity effect influence the navigational behavior of customers and their buying habits within a department store?” Observational research conducted at Universo Sport Duomo in Florence, Italy assists in the explanation of this inquiry.

The research was conducted over the course of 4 days; two specific customer’s navigational behavior patterns were observed and documented on a Universo Sport Duomo map during their entire department store visit. In addition, data for all customers entering the store, traveling through the store, and making a purchase were documented for a total of one hour each observational day. Of the people observed, two customers were selected for a personal interview about their experience.

Results identified customers felt the space was congested with no directional lighting and difficult wayfinding patterns. Of the 142 visiting customers, only 31 customers made a purchase. Overall, customers felt the store was long and divided, directly affecting interpretation of the store. Further research and study of the angularity effect is needed to provide a large data set to help establish a relationship between the customer and the layout of the store.

As the architectural and engineering world of the early 20^th century explored new and fascinating materials and created structural marvels throughout the world, Spain chose instead to focus largely on creating a national style which would evoke the power they had so recently lost. To do this, Spanish design looked back to the works of Roman, Muslim, and Imperial Spain, resurrecting their forms and decoration, more for their aesthetics than for their practical application.

During this time, Eduardo Torroja, an engineer by trade, began to experiment with reinforced concrete in both the common Historicist style as well as the budding Rationalist style. His work introduced Spanish architects and engineers to not only a new material, but a new way of designing buildings.

Previously, most focus on Torroja’s work has been on his advancements in Rationalist architecture. By examining first-hand accounts by Torroja, critical reviews by his peers and later commentators, and original drawings of his creations, this paper will look at his early Historicist usage of reinforced concrete. This paper intends to show how this initial use as a replacement material inspired Torroja’s future work and influenced his contemporaries to consider reinforced concrete as a primary material, contributing to the eventual progression of Spanish Rationalism.

Fiber reinforced polymer is one of hundreds of new materials and finishes nested under the term “composite materials”. This relatively new material offers architects and engineers the opportunity to take advantage of the qualities of dissimilar materials at the same time. Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP) are made by combining glass or carbon fiber with epoxy or plastic resin to create durable and flexible panels, rods, beams, ect. FRP is waterproof, due to their composition and lately have even been applied to a fire-resistant octagonal mesh system. FRPs are also sustainable; LEED has certified them as an option for sustainable building construction. In addition, they are lightweight, resistant to insects, and are easy to utilize in construction. For designers, these building components can prove a useful asset in attaining a natural form or simply adding color for low expense. Despite the advantageous qualities of this material, it has yet to be largely incorporated into building structures. This study investigates current applications of FRP in the structural realm. Current applications, processes, and methods of using the material are will collected in an innovative architectural structural system with sufficient strength and stability to be self-supportive. The tensile and compressive strength limits of the designed structural system are then explored through digital and physical modeling and are compared to similar solutions of other conventional construction materials. The goal of the project is to determine the plausibility and possible benefits of future use of FRP in architectural structural applications.

A climate analysis is one of the first aspects to be considered within the design process of an architect or engineer. In this study, a procedure was developed with the intent of creating a climate analysis that gives information showing how the climate impacts the built structures. Current methods of climate analysis can be arbitrary with vague standards. Climate analysis informs on passive and active strategies that act in harmony to reduce energy use and cost within the final design of the buildings. The purpose of a climate analysis is to optimize the relationship between the building energy and resource needs with the environment around it. There is a variety of tools, software, and on and off-line resources available to contribute to an analysis. One of the many resources, Climate Consultant is a good choice due to its accessibility across operating systems. As well as its organized, descriptive and visually graphic results that can produce a cohesive conclusion. Climate Consultant has an easy-to-understand system that provides necessary information at no cost, in order to perform an analysis. By minimizing the findings to annual graphs when available, it reduces the decoding process of multiple repetitive graphs, therefore speeding up time while ending with the same desired results. This study resulted in a method that consolidates the resources in a more effective analysis approach.

On average Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour. Yearly, 14 billion pounds of trash is compiled and much of it is plastic. More than 4.8 million tons of plastic is dumped into the ocean every year, thus, contaminating our waters and shores with garbage and endangering sea lives. In an attempt to recycle plastic bottles and keep less waste from accumulating, there have been building projects that incorporated plastic bottles in building construction. From Oscar Mendez, compressing plastics down to brick-like materials, the plastic bottle village created by Robert Bezeau, or from communities in Nigeria using plastic bottles and mud to create a building that is both bullet and fire proof, all prove that this material can be integrated with our construction methods. This study investigates how plastic bottles form structurally sound buildings through using different construction methods. To showcase its application, a load bearing wall is under design and testing for sustainable building construction. By doing so, it exemplifies the strength and durability of structure built using the non-conventional construction material.