Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses

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End date: 1999 × Type: PhD thesis ×

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    Victorian architectural ornament
    Errey, Elva L. ( 1972)
    Summary. Part One Is concerned with a technical and historical account of the chief materials employed in architectural ornament in the period indicated; cement and plaster, terracotta and brick, wood and metal. Part Two is a catalogue of the ornamental types and forms produced in these materials based on an analysis of over two thousand buildings and illustrated by just over one thousand drawings, encompassing the following categories : cement and plaster - acroteria, parapet treatments (chiefly pediments), scrolls, finials, balustrades, window surrounds, shells, keystones, swags and festoons, studs, friezes, consoles or brackets, capitals and chimneys (rendered); clay products - ridge cresting, finials, chimney pots, brickwork patterns and chimneys (exposed brick); wood - gable end fillers, bargeboards, struts or brackets, verandah woodwork; cast-iron - balustrades, friezes, brackets, ridge cresting and window guards; pressed metal - wall and ceiling lining, centre roses, cornices, roofing finishes and finials. Part Three deals with the buildings as a whole, considering stylistic changes and the typology of distinct groups of structures under the headings: offices, warehouses, factories and banks; shops - major and minor; hotels; town and shire halls; court houses; hospitals; schools; railway buildings; theatres and halls; miscellaneous public buildings; houses employing bricks in contrast colours; houses employing red brick with cream dressings; "Italianate" houses ; "Italianate" terraces; Queen Anne style houses; sub-Queen Anne and bungalow houses. The stylistic changes in general may be summarized broadly as proceeding from a mixture of details derived from Gothic and Classical sources applied to buildings of non-historical (nineteenth century) character via another pseudo-historical revival (Queen Anne in two major forms), followed by an admixture of fairly superficial Art Nouveau influence to a welter of historically oriented revivals and abstractions and simplifications of preceding forms. These developments overlap considerably and appear with variable force and diversity according to the type of buildings. Part Four is a brief account of the work of one hundred and seventy-five leading architects or builders of the period arranged alphabetically under the name of the architect or firm. The emphasis throughout is on dealing with as broad a range of examples as possible, rather than concentrating only on large scale and/or progressive projects.
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    Architectural development in Singapore
    Seow, Eu Jin (University of Melbourne, 1973)
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    Visual assessment techniques for rural road management
    Cooper, Maxine Anne (University of Melbourne, 1989)
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    Characteristics of design for sustainable urban settlement
    Wright, Timothy John ( 1999)
    Most people in the world live in urban settlements, and urban settlements are also the location of many environmentally damaging activities. A sustainable future is dependent on the design of sustainable urban settlements. It is now widely recognised that sustainability theory and practice must deal with the dynamics and uncertainties of the evolving world in which we live. The dynamics of an evolving world present a challenge to design for sustainable urban settlements, when design is viewed in a conventional way. Conventional ideas tend to assume limited and fully determined outcomes from design. However, experience tells us that designed changes have often brought unintended and unexpected consequences for sustainability. It is argued, therefore, that a new concept of design is required with its roots in the cultural and biophysical interactions of evolving urban settlements. Drawing on theories of non-equilibrium,systems,notably on the theory of dissipative structures, the evolutionary dynamics that integrate cultural and biophysical change in an urban settlement, and are the generators of uncertainty, are described by reference to a case study of the Western Suburbs of Melbourne. The links between theory and the case study are established by application of an adapted version of the Slocombe/Gryzbowski method for identifying and describing the evolutionary dynamics of large scale cultural-biophysical systems. With minor modifications, the method's step-by-step procedure, is used to establish relationships between evolutionary change and the sustainability of the urban settlement, and the role of design in both. The case study supports the idea that design is deeply embedded in the evolution of an urban settlement and its sustainability. Drawing on the findings from the case study, a range of new characteristics of design for sustainable urban settlements are proposed. Together these establish a new model of design for sustainable urban settlements, that incorporates the dynamics of evolving systems, and replaces the conventional and purely deterministic model. In the new model, design is found to be an instrument of change and uncertainty. At the same time it has the capacity to endow urban settlements with the flexibility necessary to persist and adapt to new circumstances. As such it is both a risky and experimental activity, but one with which we must engage if we are to ensure a sustainable future
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    An approach to improved housing delivery in large cities of less developed countries
    Sivam, Alpana ( 1999)
    The world population is increasing very rapidly, overwhelming all efforts to provide adequate housing. The urban population is growing at a much faster rate than the population as a whole. A staggering 93 percent of this increase between 1995 and 2020 is expected to occur in the developing countries. This poses a major challenge to those responsible for the provision of housing and related services. It is reasonably clear that housing delivery systems are deficient in almost all the large cities of less developed countries. The deficiencies are not the same in all cities, but they generally relate to land assembly, development and disposal of developed land, provision of infrastructure, and co-ordination among different implementation agencies. The aim of this research is to suggest an approach to improve housing delivery systems for large cities in developing countries. The heart of the method developed to achieve this aim was to break down the housing delivery system into its various stages: planning; land assembly; implementation; and final disposal of the finished houses. This permitted examination of the problems related to four various stages individually, rather than trying to view a system in toto. A variety of cities from both developed and developing countries were examined to generate sets of alternatives for each of these stages. These alternatives were then tested for the city of Delhi, India, through individual interviews with different actors in the housing delivery system, to observe how different sets of those actors see the strengths and weaknesses of each alternative for each stage. The method used to analyse the responses was both quantitative and qualitative. This produced suggestions for each of the stages of the housing delivery system, appropriate for Delhi. Although the systems in different cities of less developed countries might differ from each other, there are overriding defects that are common to most. Reflection on the alternatives derived for Delhi suggested that for the most part they would be applicable to other cities of less developed countries. However, for some of the stages the political, social or cultural situation in particular cities would require individual selection from the range of possible alternatives. In such cases, the research method developed in this research project can be applied to make an appropriate selection.
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    Development ideologies strategies and rural poverty in Thailand : a comparative analysis of rural development strategies
    Chanthongkaew, Sungvean ( 1999)
    Rural agricultural communities have played an important role in Thailand's drive for industrialisation. Yet despite the recent rapid economic growth and social transformation they have fallen far behind in economic performance in both relative and absolute terms, and have become areas where low incomes and poverty are prevalent. Their basic community resources and ecosystems have been significantly degraded in the process. This pattern of so-called 'uneven development' is becoming so great that without some radical adjustment to existing values and socio-economic structures, the national drive for industrialisation itself could be undermined by such social and environmental destabilisation. It is clearly worthwhile, therefore, to appraise both the ideological and material responses to change in these rural communities. This study explores and questions the ideas and practices of existing development models, examining in particular the central argument as to whether they can both overcome these problems and provide solutions to the goals of sustainable rural development. To achieve this aim, development ideologies and models are reviewed and selected representative projects are analysed. The approach is thus principally that of comparative case studies. Three rural community development models: market-based, ecological, and moral/ethical - were evaluated. They are seen to be associated with the basic philosophies of either 'individualism or 'totality', which involve policy choices between 'market', 'state', and 'people', or between market-based capitalism, state planning, and a people-centred paradigm. A significant finding suggests that achievement of the goal of sustainable rural community development will depend primarily on the basic philosophy underlying the model adopted. This is because it determines the model's 'trade-off system' between interdependent social values and goals, or the 'correct' balance struck between the different 'spheres' of development. A basic philosophy that recognises the interdependence of all life and things appears to support sustainable rural community development. While most village communities were interested primarily in increasing `family income', others were capable of successfully devising appropriate village organisations and programs to promote 'community empowerment' and 'alternative livelihoods' at the same time. However this desirable synthesis of `family income', `community empowerment', and `alternative livelihoods' has only been demonstrated at regional and local levels: it is too early to claim its application at a national scale
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    Australian flats : a comparison of Melbourne and Sydney flat developments in the interwar period
    Dunbar, Donald J ( 1998)
    The differences between the architecture of flats in Melbourne with flats built in Sydney during the 1920s and 1930s, suggests that these differences were manifest by factors in addition to topography. This study compares the development of architectural forms and expression in the two cities, discussing them in relation to concepts of architectural regionalism and modernism. The planning and urban redevelopment contexts result in differences in number, location, building height, lot size, site coverage, flat size, image, lifestyle and modern technology.
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    Simulating recreation behaviour in complex wilderness landscapes using spatially-explicit autonomous agents
    Gimblett, H. Randy ( 1998)
    This work introduces and explores the potential of using intelligent agent based modeling and simulation as a tool for examining the complex interactions between recreators and the environment, and interactions between recreators as a means to improving the our understanding of the recreational use of wildland settings. In this research the concept of rule driven autonomous agents as surrogates for human visitors is introduced. Agents are designed to represent the actions of the individual recreators (hiking, mountain bike riding, and pink jeep tour outfitters). Behavioural rules are derived from visitor surveys and interviews conducted in Broken Arrow Canyon, Arizona. The autonomous agents can be seen to dynamically move over a GIS based model of the Broken Arrow landscape. Line-of-sight calculations determine whether an individual agent is able to 'see' other agents and are used as method to record 'actual' and 'perceived' encounters with other agents. Using agent location maps combined with the underlying GIS data the agents can be observed moving across the landscape, pausing, changing pace, lingering at a view-point etc. A discussion focuses on analysing the resulting behaviours found in these simulations and additionally to explore the influence of alternative trail alignments on recreator movement, congestion and crowding. Some potential future directions for this research are discussed.
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    Equitable and sustainable development in less developed countries
    Sutiprapa, Jarunun ( 1997)
    There has been a perception among development planners that if economic progress continues economic efficiency and market forces will even out any inequality problems through the 'trickle-down' effect. However, in many LDCs (less developed countries) this assumption does not seem to hold. Moreover, it seems that persistent poverty and income inequality are also reflected in environmental degradation in many parts of the world. This leads to unsustainable development, both in the equitability and the environmental contexts. The aim of the research is to explore development policy for LDCs that is both equitable and environmentally sustainable, within the context of the current market economy. Two research approaches were used. First, a statistical cross-country analysis of 40 LDCs was employed. The objective was to provide a general picture of income equality and development attributes, namely: 'level of development'; 'orientation of development'; and 'balanced urbanisation' as an indicator of the spatial distribution of development. Second, a detailed analysis of development over the last few decades was made for two LDCs, Indonesia and Thailand. This was to verify the relationship between development, balanced urbanisation and income equality and to explore the relationship between balanced urbanisation and environmental conservation. The findings were then linked to decentralisation policy in the two countries. Income equality was found to have a negative relationship with level of development and a positive relationship with orientation,of development-export-led growth strategy. It also had a positive relationship with balanced urbanisation. The detailed study of Indonesia and Thailand revealed that when urbanisation was unbalanced, regional disparities in manufacturing, GDP and per capita income and environmental degradation were likely to be high. This indicates that if a government wishes to create equitable growth, one approach is to undertake regional development, targeting on balanced urbanisation. To achieve this, the government should take action on decentralisation policy. Although the findings were mostly specific to Indonesia and Thailand, the following major findings are likely to hold for other LDCs: (1) national development with little attention to equitability is neither socially nor environmentally sustainable; (2) equitable development is likely to be achieved by regional development aimed at balanced urbanisation through fiscal and political decentralisation; (3) the form of development advocated in (2) needs central government intervention although the degree of decentralisation will depend upon the particular country's conditions.