Abstract:

Buildings, by their nature, provide us with shelter, a skin that separates us from the outside world, and a transition between the inside and the outside. All of these different aspects of the building are selective depending on how they are designed and operated, and the building itself has the ability to control all of these aspects. Norberg-Schultz referred to the building as a system of connectors, barriers, filters, and switches which can moderate the conditions of the interior environment. These four operations inherent in the built environment act as filters, even though they were not specifically designed as filters. With the amount of air and water contamination that exists today, we need to be concerned about the filtration process to alleviate these problems, and specifically design our buildings to facilitate filtration. This thesis will explore how the architectural design can improve on the existing filtration process in buildings, not only the water and air coming into the building, but exiting the building as well. The design process and end product will focus on healing and replenishing, rather than destroying and depleting.