Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


30367.pdf (20.79 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Cultivating the City: Establishing the Presence of Nature in Urban Architecture

Ridder, Nicole
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1522342247782963

Abstract Details

2018, MARCH, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture.
Many urban areas have become economic engines of society, consistently shaping the lives of their makers and inhabitants. They are manufactured as “machines” relying on “machines”, functioning for our purpose. However, their makers are not machines, and their inhabitants are not machines. Humans, on the contrary, are organisms relying on organisms. This contrast has led to a large disconnect between the “machines” that humans have produced to support their lives versus the “life” that humans desire. As part of the natural world, humans innately desire a connection with nature. This innate desire, defined as biophilia, is jeopardized in the inanimate hardscapes of our built environment. While we have created identities as makers and dwellers of the built environment, we are also products of the natural environment and long to exist in harmony with nature. This thesis identifies biophilic design as the missing link to improving the quality of existing urban conditions by reimagining the design perspectives of historic preservation and sustainability through the lens of biophilic design to satisfy and rejuvenate the urban experience for humans on an instinctive level. The unison of the three perspectives demonstrates that cities do not have to rely on new construction for improvement. Instead, biophilia and sustainability can be used to not just renovate existing buildings but regenerate them through reconnecting their inhabitants to the environment. Biophilic design shows that a connection to the environment is not only beneficial for sustainability, but also for our own health and happiness. What’s better for the environment can also be better for us. Viewing historic preservation and sustainability methods through the lens of biophilic design presents a cohesive, responsible, and respectful improvement of the built environment by reconnecting to the natural world while maintaining historical character. Urban areas do not need new buildings to have better environments.
Anton Harfmann, M.Arch. (Committee Chair)
Jeffrey Tilman, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
142 p.
Architecture
biophilic design; urban architecture

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Ridder, N. (2018). Cultivating the City: Establishing the Presence of Nature in Urban Architecture [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1522342247782963

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ridder, Nicole. Cultivating the City: Establishing the Presence of Nature in Urban Architecture. 2018. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1522342247782963.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ridder, Nicole. "Cultivating the City: Establishing the Presence of Nature in Urban Architecture." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1522342247782963

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1522342247782963
459
© 2018, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.