Tag: Architecture

Freedom Towns, Freedom Colonies: A Primer for Prosperity

Presenter: Sarada Thomas – Anthropology, Architecture

Faculty Mentor: Richard Margerum

Session: (In-Person) Oral Panel—Connection and Community

The study examines Freedom Towns and Colonies. The newly freed had few resources but established hundreds of these communities. Many were very successful, and some are still in existence today.

Modern African American communities are materially in the same place as those from the early 1800s. Previous research indicates the same methods could be used to create similar economic transformation. The study answers the questions: how did these towns and colonies emerge? What are the lessons, successful practices, and guiding principles from their history? How can policy support and protect efforts to apply them?

A primary literature review framed the study at the intersection of political economics, sociopolitical history, and community development. A secondary literature review of oral histories, government documents, and journalistic articles provided data for analysis.

Primary findings show cooperative and collective behaviors span successful communities while failures were induced externally. The implication is privation among ADOS communities can be alleviated using internal and external solutions drawn from history.

This work is significant in its assumption of ability, motivation, and ongoing effort by ADOS communities. Second the study centers the community’s cultural habits as a solution to their economic, social, and political condition. Third, this work is significant in its clarification of policy’s role to support, promote and protect the community and its efforts.

Holy Dish! How wet dishes affect CO2 and humidity in a built space

Presenter(s): Ian Dahl — Architecture

Co-Presenter(s): Sidney Zabell, Natania Yeung

Faculty Mentor(s): Carli Torti

Session: (Virtual) Poster Presentation

This study evaluated how placing dishes of different dryness levels in a cabinet contributed to increased levels of humidity and CO2. CO2 is a by-product of mold and mildew production, which can easily develop in an enclosed space with high humidity levels. This is a common issue in construction and built spaces with limited airflow, and CO2 levels can be considered dangerous if above 1000 ppm. To see whether moisture levels would increase humidity and CO2 to hazardous levels, wet dishes were dipped in water and stacked inside a kitchen cabinet with a GOVEE humidity monitor and HOBO CO2 monitor. The plastic dishes were kept inside an isolated kitchen cabinet and kept closed for three days to record measurements of humidity and CO2 levels. We compared this data against the original humidity and CO2 levels inside the cabinet before any wet plates were put inside. Group 1 of testing was the control group of 12 dry plates. Group 2 of testing consisted of 3 wet and 9 dry plates, group 3 of 6 wet and 6 dry plates, and group 4 of 9 wet and 3 dry plates. The results show increased humidity and CO2 levels in all phases of testing. The increase of CO2 levels was nearly 25% higher in group 4 compared to the 10% increase in group 2, and increases in humidity levels were nearly 5% higher compared to group 1 indicating the correlation between moisture build-up in a small space and increased humidity and CO2 levels.

Glazing Peanuts

Presenter: Katharine Dwyer, Ian Austin, Aidan Tart, Architecture

Poster: A-7

Mentor: Allison Kwok, Architecture

In our consumer society the ultimate and most lasting product is, without a doubt, the landfill. We produce massive amounts of materials and products that have a functional lifespan of a month or a year and then discard them as waste to decompose for hundreds or thousands of years. Our goal is to discover which materials can be reused so that such destructive cycles can be slowed or even reversed. Responding also to the inefficiency of buildings, we have honed in on Styrofoam. We believe that this material, which is otherwise thrown away, can be used to add insulative value to double pane windows. During the night, hot days, or whenever views are not desired, Styrofoam peanuts would drop from within storage units in the walls to fill the gap between the panes of glass to add extra insulation. We tested our theory by building a custom hotbox that contained a 3” double paned window section in the center. With the help of HOBO data loggers, we then tested for the insulative value of our window with and without Styrofoam peanut filler. Our tests resulted in an insulative value of the Styrofoam peanuts to be about R-8, a significant improvement over the glass panes alone. Glazing makes up a significant percentage of a building envelope, and is a main source of heat loss for a building. By implementing simple insulative technologies such as this, great amounts of energy can be saved with virtually no effort or sacrifice.

Nolli, Lanciani, and the Spatial History of Rome

Presenter: Kelly Mabry, Architecture

Poster: C-3

Mentor: James Tice, Architecture

Giambattista Nolli’s 1748 Baroque Map of Rome remains one of the most engaging and accurate maps of the city ever created. Rodolfo Lanciani’s 1902 archeological map of Rome, based on Nolli, depicts the city as a series of layers extending from antiquity to the beginning of the 20th century. By carefully comparing these two cartographic sources, one can create a clearer understanding of Rome’s spatial history and how, among other things, Rome’s famous seven hills have influenced the city’s growth over the centuries. By using the geo-database software, ArcGIS, both the Nolli and Lanciani maps can be further geo-rectified with recent satellite imagery and data to achieve an even richer, layered, spatial understanding of the city. This enhanced layered approach opens new possibilities toward the understanding of Rome’s spatial history and its evolution over two millennia.

Lack of Ventilation – Intoxication: Studying Carbon Dioxide Levels in a Student’s Apartment

Presenter: Shannon Ladner, Gina Realmuto, Ayla-Mae Vedder, Architecture

Poster: B-6

Mentor: Alison Kwok, Architecture

As building technology increases, buildings are being sealed tighter to reduce heating and cooling costs. With this increase in energy efficiency comes a decrease in quality. Air quality, specifically, has become a major concern as people spend more time indoors. In a student’s small apartment near the University of Oregon, ventilation has become a pressing problem. Our team set out to test the build-up of the highly known chemical compound carbon dioxide in a four-hundred square foot apartment. The American Society
of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers has set the ventilation standard at a maximum of one-thousand parts per million of carbon dioxide. After testing the apartment with carbon dioxide meters, we found the average amount of carbon dioxide to be one thousand six-hundred and fifty parts per million. Determined to find a solution to this ventilation problem, we decided to test the effectiveness of a common remedy: opening a window. Our hypothesis was that an open window would bring in enough fresh air to reduce the apartment’s carbon dioxide level to one thousand parts per million within four hours. The results were a success and in fact only took an average of forty-five minutes. However, it being winter, this method of ventilation sacrificed the residents’ thermal comfort. This research jump-started our interest in finding more convenient and passive ways to ventilate spaces as an alternative to mechanical ventilation systems.

Solar Reflector Prototype

Presenter: Jared Barak, Josie Baldner, Architecture

Poster: A-1

Mentor: Alison Kwok, Architecture

Skylights are a lovely addition to most rooms, but they are also major contributors to building heat loss in cold weather. Because glass is such a poor insulator, an improperly placed skylight can make a room retain heat poorly, resulting in a chilly space and an expensive utility bill. In an attempt to increase the solar penetration into one such room, a prototype solar reflector was constructed and placed above a skylit bathroom. Temperature and light intensity data collected from beneath the retrofit skylight indicated that the additional reflected sunlight significantly increased the brightness of the room, but had a negligible effect on the temperature. The study implies that reflecting additional sunlight through an existing aperture could make a skylight perform as if it were a larger skylight without any additional building heat loss.

Exploring Rome through Guiseppe Vasi’s Eyes

Presenter: Jesus Fernandez, Architecture

Poster: A-9

Mentor: James Tice, Architecture

Guiseppe Vasi (1710 – 1782) created over 240 vedute or city landscape views of Rome during his lifetime and in the process provides us with a vivid document of the city and its people during the period. Vasi methodically and accurately depicts every corner of the city from impressive monuments to more humble quarters. His views of daily life also provide a fascinating social commentary rendering all classes with a witty and candid eye. The research project in which I have been involved highlights five spectacular panoramas that Vasi created at the height of his career. The largest of these, the Panorama of Rome taken from the Janiculum Hill, is over 9 feet long and shows 390 individual monuments that are carefully keyed to an index on the print. Working with faculty in the Department of Architecture and the InfoGraphics Lab in the Geography Department on campus, my research has been to carefully analyze and create a multi-media display, allowing the viewer to understand the wealth and breadth of the information, portrayed. The resulting work was formatted into an innovative iPad installation and included in the recent exhibition, “Giuseppe Vasi’s Rome: Lasting Impressions from the Age of the Grand Tour” sponsored by the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art last fall. The exhibition is currently showing at the Princeton University Art Museum.

Stopping Heat: A Study of Repurposed Cork Insulation

Presenter : Sebastian Oviedo, Maria Burbano

Mentor : Alison Kwok

Major : Architecture

Poster 40

Over the last few decades, the construction industry has been increasingly concerned with its impacts on the environment. This relates both to the production and the operation performance of materials and assemblies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the thermal performance of post-consumer cork stoppers re-used as insulation for OSB panels. With the use of an insulated HotBox and HOBO U12 data loggers, a sample of a cork stopper-insulated panel was tested for heat flow and thermal resistance, and compared to a panel insulated with commercial extruded polystyrene foam. The results showed that the repurposed cork insulation had a performance 17.3% higher than that of the commercial alternative. Repurposing post-consumer waste could diminish the amount of cork going to landfills, which is approximately 13 billion each year (13). Cork is a naturally produced, highly insulative material, which makes it a potential material for high-performance building construction.

Tour de Fans: An Exercise in Comfort

Presenters : Erik Larson, Kyle Stuart-Willis, Robert Nicholls

Mentor : Alison Kwok

Major : Architecture

Poster 23

We are architecture students at the University of Oregon investigating into the Environmental Control Systems of an architectural space and the level of success for their implementation. This study analyzed the UO Rec Center’s spinning (stationary bike) exercise room and how human activity affects environmental conditions. By studying the temperature and relative humidity during a class we were able to understand human-generated heat in a room and apply more ventilation equipment in order for the room to remain in the architecturally-defined “comfort zone” (defined by ASHRAE standard 55) for a longer period of time. We hypothesized that a third fan added during a spin class would increase the time spent in the comfort zone by 20%. The study took place over 2 weeks to gather data with multiple controlled variables. Devices known as HOBO data loggers took intermittent measurements of the classroom’s temperature and relative humidity We concluded that the implementation of a third fan dramatically increased the classroom’s circulation, resulting in highs up to 46% lower in temperature and 35% lower in relative humidity. Our investigation shows that proper research of the ventilation/air circulation of an architecturally-designed space results in a more pleasant environment for users and a greater contribution to society for the architects involved. We also learned that participating in multiple spin classes leads to great glutes.

Humanizing the Houseless: Warming a Tent Through Homemade Insulation

Presenter: Stefanie Wibiasa

Co-Presenters: Amber Bass, Marisa Daluro

Mentor: Alison Kwok

Poster: 34

Major: Architecture

The Pacific Northwest’s climate-mild, but with occasional extremes-greatly affects a resident’s satisfaction with his or her particular thermal environment. The primary goal of this study was to help the tent communities of Eugene, Oregon stay significantly warmer during the harsh winter months. To this end, we investigated whether adding a layer of homemade insulation to the floor of a tent would significantly reduce heat loss and better regulate the interior temperature. Group members selected a neutral, unsheltered outdoor venue and set up a small tent similar to one that would be found in a houseless community. Over the course of a 24-hour period (divided into three eight-hour segment), hourly temperature readings both inside and outside the tent were measured and recorded. The first eight- hour assessment functioned as a control period—data taken without supplementary insulation. The second and third eight-hour assessments measured temperature data after various layers of homemade insulation had been added to the interior base of the tent. The study goals were addressed primarily through data logging, quantitative inquiry, and analyzing ideas of thermal comfort.