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2020 Student Thesis Showcase - Part I

Have you ever wondered what students design in architecture school? A few years ago, we started an Instagram account called IMADETHAT_ to curate student work from across North America. Now, we have nearly 3,000 projects featured for you to view. In this series, we are featuring thesis projects of recent graduates to give you a glimpse into what architecture students create while in school. Each week, for the rest of the summer, we will be curating five projects that highlight unique aspects of design. In this week’s group, the research ranges from urban scale designs focused on climate change to a proposal for a new type of collective housing and so much in between. Check back each week for new projects. 

In the meantime, Archinect has also created a series featuring the work of 2020 graduates in architecture and design programs. Check out the full list, here .

Redefining the Gradient by Kate Katz and Ryan Shaaban, Tulane University, M.Arch ‘20

Thesis Advisors: Cordula Roser Gray and Ammar Eloueini / Course: 01-SP20-Thesis Studio

Sea level rise has become a major concern for coastal cities due to the economic and cultural importance tied to their proximity to water. These cities have sustained their livelihood in low-lying elevations through the process of filling, bridging, and raising land over coastal ecosystems, replacing their ecological value with infrastructures focused on defining the edge between city and nature. Hard infrastructures have been employed to maintain urban landscapes but have minimal capacity for both human and non-human engagement due to their monofunctional applications focused on separating conditions rather than integrating them. They produce short-term gains with long-term consequences, replacing and restricting ecosystems and acting as physical barriers in a context defined by seasonal transition. 

To address the issues of hard infrastructure and sea level rise, this thesis proposes an alternative design strategy that incorporates the dynamic water system into the urban grid network. San Francisco was chosen as the location of study as it is a peninsula where a majority of the predicted inundation occurs on the eastern bayside. In this estuary, there were over 500 acres of ecologically rich tidal marshlands that were filled in during the late 1800s. To protect these new lands, the Embarcadero Sea Wall was built in 1916 and is now in a state of neglect. The city has set aside $5 billion for repairs but, instead of pouring more money into a broken system, we propose an investment in new multi-functional ecologically-responsive strategies. 

As sea levels rise, the city will be inundated with water, creating the opportunity to develop a new circulation system that maintains accessibility throughout areas located in the flood zone. In this proposal, we’ve designed a connective network where instance moments become moments of pause and relief to enjoy the new cityscape in a dynamic maritime district. 

On the lower level, paths widen to become plazas while on the upper level, they become breakout destinations which can connect to certain occupiable rooftops that are given to the public realm. The bases of carved canals become seeding grounds for plants and aquatic life as the water level rises over time. Buildings can protect high-risk floors through floodproofing and structural encasement combined with adaptive floorplates to maintain the use of lower levels. The floating walkway is composed of modular units that are buoyant, allowing the pedestrian paths to conform and fluctuate with diurnal tidal changes. The composition of the units creates street furniture and apertures to engage with the ecologies below while enabling a once restricted landscape of wetlands to take place within the city. 

The new vision of the public realm in this waterfront district hopes to shine an optimistic light on how we can live with nature once again as we deal with the consequences of climate change.

Unearthing the Black Aesthetic by Demar Matthews, Woodbury University, M.Arch ‘20

Advisor: Ryan Tyler Martinez Featured on Archinect

“Unearthing The Black Aesthetic” highlights South Central Los Angeles’s (or Black Los Angeles’s) unique positioning as a dynamic hub of Black culture and creativity. South Central is the densest population of African Americans west of the Mississippi. While every historically Black neighborhood in Los Angeles has experienced displacement, the neighborhood of Watts was hit particularly hard. As more and more Black Angelenos are forced for one reason or another to relocate, we are losing our history and connection to Los Angeles.

As a way to fight this gentrification, we are developing an architectural language derived from Black culture. So many cultures have their own architectural styles based on values, goals, morals, and customs shared by their society. When these cultures have relocated to America, to keep their culture and values intact, they bought land and built in the image of their homelands. That is not true for Black people in America. In fact, until 1968, Black people had no rights to own property in Los Angeles. While others began a race to acquire land in 1492, building homes and communities in their image, we started running 476 years after the race began. What percentage of land was left for Blacks to acquire? How then can we advance the development of a Black aesthetic in architecture?

This project, most importantly, is a collaboration with the community that will be for us and by us. My goal is to take control of our image in architecture; to elevate, not denigrate, Black life and culture. Ultimately, we envision repeating this process in nine historically Black cities in America to develop an architectural language that will vary based on the history and specificities of Black culture in each area.

KILLING IT: The Life and Death of Great American Cities by Amanda Golemba, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, M.Arch ’20

Advisors: Nikole Bouchard, Jasmine Benyamin, and Erik Hancock / Independent Design Thesis

For decades, post-industrial cities throughout the United States have been quietly erased through self-imposed tabula rasa demolition. If considered at all, demolition is touted as the mechanism for removing unsightly blight, promoting safety, and discarding the obsolete and the unwanted. Once deemed unworthy, rarely does a building survive the threat of demolition. 

In the last decade, the City of Chicago has erased over 13,000 buildings with 225 in just the last four months. Not only does this mass erasure eradicate the material and the spatial, but it permanently wipes the remnants of human bodies, values, and history — a complete annulment of event, time, and memory. 

But why do we feel the need to erase in order to make progress?

Our current path has led to a built environment that is becoming more and more uniform and sterile. Much of America has become standardized, mixed-use developments; neighborhoods of cookie-cutter homes and the excessive use of synthetic, toxic building materials. A uniform world is a boring one that has little room for creativity, individuality, or authenticity.

This thesis, “KILLING IT,” is a design proposal for a traveling exhibition that seeks to change perceptions of the existing city fabric by visualizing patterns of erasure, questioning the resultant implications and effects of that erasure, and proposing an alternative fate. “KILLING IT” confronts the inherently violent aspects of architecture and explores that violence through the intentionally jarring, uncomfortable, and absurd analogy of murder. This analogy is a lens through which to trace the violent, intentional, and premature ending and sterilization of the existing built environment. After all, as Bernard Tschumi said, “To really appreciate architecture, you may even need to commit a murder.”1 But murder is not just about the events that take place within a building, it is also the material reality of the building itself. 

Over the life of a building, scarring, moments in time, and decay layer to create an inhabitable palimpsest of memory. This traveling exhibition is infused with the palimpsest concept by investigating strategies of layering, modularity, flexibility, transparency, and building remains, while layering them together to form a system that operates as an inhabitable core model collage. Each individual exhibition simultaneously memorializes the violence that happened at that particular site and implements murderous adaptive reuse strategies through collage and salvage material to expose what could have been.

If we continue down our current path, we will only continue to make the same mistakes and achieve the same monotonous, sterilizing results we currently see in every American city and suburb. We need to embrace a new path that values authenticity, celebrates the scars and traces of the past, and carries memories into the future. By reimaging what death can mean and addressing cycles of violence, “KILLING IT” proposes an optimistic vision for the future of American cities. 

• Tschumi, Bernard. “Questions of space: lectures on architecture” (ed. 1990)

A New Prototype for Collective Housing by Juan Acosta and Gable Bostic, University of Texas at Austin, M.Arch ‘20

Advisor: Martin Haettasch / Course: Integrative Design Studio Read more: https://soa.utexas.edu/work/new-prototype-collective-housing

Austin is a city that faces extreme housing pressures. This problem is framed almost exclusively in terms of supply and demand, and the related question of affordability. For architects, however, a more productive question is: Will this new quantity produce a new quality of housing? 

How do we live in the city, how do we create individual and collective identity through architecture, and what are the urban consequences? This studio investigates new urban housing types, smaller than an apartment block yet larger and denser than a detached house. Critically assessing existing typologies, we ask the question: How can the comforts of the individual house be reconfigured to form new types of residential urban fabric beyond the entropy of tract housing or the formulaic denominator of “mixed-use.” The nature of the integrative design studio allowed for the testing of material systems and construction techniques that have long had an important economic and ecological impact.

“A New Prototype for Collective Housing” addresses collectivity in both a formal and social sense, existing between the commercial and residential scales present in Austin’s St. John neighborhood as it straddles the I-35 corridor; a normative American condition. A diversity of programs, and multigenerational living, create an inherently diverse community. Additionally, a courtyard typology is used to negotiate the spectrum of private and shared space. Volumes, comprising multiple housing units ranging from studio apartments to four bedrooms, penetrate a commercial plinth that circulates both residents and mechanical systems. The use of heavy timber ensures an equitable use of resources while imbuing the project with a familiar material character.

ELSEWHERE, OR ELSE WHERE? by Brenda (Bz) Zhang, University of California at Berkeley, M.Arch ’20

Advisors: Andrew Atwood and Neyran Turan See more: https://www.brendazhang.com/#/elsewhere-or-else-where/

“ELSEWHERE, OR ELSE WHERE?” is an architectural fever dream about the San Francisco Bay Area. Beginning with the premise that two common ideas of Place—Home and Elsewhere—are no longer useful, the project wonders how disciplinary tools of architecture can be used to shape new stories about where we are.

For our purposes, “Home,” although primarily used to describe a place of domestic habitation, is also referring generally to a “familiar or usual setting,” as in home-base, home-court, home-page, and even home-button. As a counterpoint, Elsewhere shifts our attention “in or to another place,” away. This thesis is situated both in the literal spaces of Elsewhere and Home (landfills, houses, wilderness, base camps, wastelands, hometowns) and in their culturally constructed space (value-embedded narratives determining whether something belongs, and to whom). Since we construct both narratives through principles of exclusion, Elsewhere is a lot closer to Home than we say. These hybrid spaces—domestic and industrial, urban and hinterland, natural and built—are investigated as found conditions of the Anthropocene and potential sites for new understandings of Place.

Ultimately, this thesis attempts to challenge conventional notions of what architects could do with our existing skill sets, just by shifting our attention—Elsewhere. The sites shown here and the concerns they represent undeniably exist, but because of the ways Western architecture draws thick boundaries between and around them, they resist architectural focus—to our detriment.

In reworking the physical and cultural constructions of Homes and Elsewheres, architects are uniquely positioned to go beyond diagnostics in visualizing and designing how, where, and why we build. While this project looks specifically at two particular stories we tell about where we are, the overall objective is to provoke new approaches to how we construct Place—both physically and culturally—within or without our discipline.

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About Study Architecture

SYDNEY TERRIS

Master's of UX Design Thesis Project

Designing a social (re)connection app: ux case study.

After a year and a half of studying UX Design at the Maryland Institute College of Art, I designed Date Night , an app for social (re)connection through shared interests and activities from singing your heart out in the car to getting takeout and curling up under a blanket for a movie.

Date Night  design showcase

From Personal Frustrations to Design Pillars

In the wake of a sweeping global pandemic, the world's doors closed and silence fell on once-busy streets while we found new ways to define social connection. With the horizons of adventure shrinking and the depths of isolation growing, I found myself constantly looking for socially-distanced, digital activities to share with my partner and my closest friends. From Netflix Watch Party to Discord streaming, we fumbled through questions like "Which one of us has the Hulu subscription?!" and "How do we find something we all like watching?". When Friday nights rolled around, comparing, contrasting, and untangling schedules, time zones, watch lists, subscriptions, and streaming services created a headache that left us feeling like Charlie Day in It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia instead of Dina in Girls Trip. 

Even as technology brings us limitless content, exposes us to new activities, and finds new ways to delight our taste buds, friends and couples are still left with an important question:

How do we find exciting new ways to connect with each other without falling into the same old habits, or neglecting quality time altogether?

Put another way: beyond the thrill of a new match on a dating app or a new suggestion on Netflix, how do we use technology to nurture fulfilling, long-lasting friendships and relationships?

This is where  Date Night  begins.

The Date Night App

Sing your heart out in the car while you jam to a playlist made for you and your partner in crime, or curl up under a blanket together to watch movies hand-picked for your shared passions! 

QUALITY TIME JAMMING

OUT OR DINING IN

Date Night is an activity matchmaking app for friends and couples that compares and contrasts each person's interests to determine exciting and engaging shared experiences for date night activities.

How does it work?  

Imagine Sydney wants to spend some quality time with her friends and nurture her social connections, but often feels frustrated sorting through tangled schedules, movie interests, and subscriptions. This weekend, Sydney wants to set up a watch party with her friend, Amber . She opens Date Night and looks through her list of movie night "matches" with Amber . Sydney picks out a movie they both have been wanting to watch and sends a date night plan over to Amber for Saturday night. Amber , while swiping left and right through potential playlist tracks, receives a date night proposal from Sydney . The movie and the date both fit Amber's schedule and interests, so she confirms the plan and eagerly awaits Saturday night! 

Date Night  creating a date night plan flow

Design Deep-Dive

Supporting friends and partners in finding ways to (re)connect with each other through shared interests and activities from singing in the car to getting takeout and watching a movie.

Date Night  onboarding flow

At it's core, Date Night provides an activity matchmaking service for friends and couples by comparing and contrasting each person's interests and desired date night activities. In turn, this augments user engagement with streaming services, food service apps, and related subscription boxes by providing a clear, direct pipeline to each activity. Therefore, the Date Night app supports partners in finding ways to (re)connect with each other through shared interests and experiences while creating an intuitive pathway linking users to the applications that address their date night needs, such as OpenTable or Netflix. This eliminates decision-making and schedule coordination stress.

Concept Deep-Dive

The Date Night app has 5 core features:

1. The Stack: The homepage hub - a stack of cards - that users swipe right or left on to express like and dislike

2. Connections: Adding, managing, and talking with friends and partners

3. Plan a Date: A pathway for users to plan out and send proposals for date nights that is rooted in existing mental models 

4. Responding to a Proposal: A flexible, built-in reply feature that allows users to go beyond "yes" or "no" by supporting a response system that encourages users to reply with iterations on the initial proposal

5. Curated Spotify Playlist: A playlist automatically created for each connection or group chat that compares, contrasts, and reflects back shared music tastes in a unique playlist

Date Night  UI showcase

The homepage card stack is the central hub for user activity. This space prioritizes exploration and leans into delightful interactions that provide exciting and engaging content. The user focuses on high-level content groupings including Movies, Music, and Food. Each card within the card stack features cover art and identifying details for the featured content. A user can either swipe right to "like" content, or swipe "left" to dislike content. Content that is "liked" by a user is saved for comparison with the corresponding interests of that user's connections. From this comparison, suggestions for date night plans are made that are directly based on content the users have "matched" on. 

Date Night  homepage featuring card stacks for users to swipe through

The card stack is populated by pulling movies, music, and dining options from the user's linked subscription services. For example, users that have linked their Netflix account and their Hulu account will see a movie options that are a combination of titles offered from both streaming services. A user also has the option to automatically import their existing "Watch Later" lists to ensure these are added to the user's 'Liked" content. 

Continuing, the connections page allows a user to review their conversations and group chats with friends, partners, and loved ones. From here a user is able to start new conversations or kick off a new date night plan. 

Date Night 's My Connections page

When a user chooses to propose a new date night plan, they are able to sort through the content that individuals have "matched" on to find the movies, music, or food that both individuals are excited to engage with. After selecting an activity, the user picks a date and time to propose. For dine-in restaurants, this includes table reservations powered by OpenTable. Similarly, take-out options are supported by services including DoorDash and UberEats. Having chosen a restaurant to dine in, a user is also able to add a movie on to their date night plan before sending the proposal to their connection(s). 

Summary view of composing a date night plan to send to a connection

When a user receives a date night proposal, they have several options for a response. They may accept the proposal as is and have it automatically added to their calendar. On the other hand, a user may also decline a proposal. Third, and most importantly, a user is able to iterate on a proposal by responding with substitutions or alterations to the plan. These changes can include adjustments to the date and/or time as well as substitutions for the proposed activity, such as swapping out one movie selection for another. 

An image subtitle looks like this

The final primary feature of Date Night is the uniquely generated music playlist that is powered by Spotify. This playlist is generated in two steps. First, Date Night imports a user's existing Spotify preferences and combines this with any additional data the user provides by swiping through the music card stack. Second, for each connection, Date Night automatically compares and contrasts both individuals' music preferences and generates a unique Spotify playlist based on overlapping music tastes. This playlist includes songs and artists that both users have expressed interest in as well as new songs and artists from similar music genres.

Date Night's  uniquely generated music playlists powered by Spotify

Target Audience

In order to determine the target audience for the Date Night app, research was conducted into the user audiences for dating apps like Tinder as well as the user audiences for service providers such as DoorDash, OpenTable, Netflix, and Spotify. As a result, the target audience was determined to be individuals who are confident using smartphones consistently and who are looking for new ways to connect with each other during a socially-distanced, pandemic era. More specifically, the target audience for Date Night includes couples and friends, both newly formed and long-term, between the ages of 18 and 55 years old. These individuals are streaming service subscribers, and likely frequent smartphone and mobile app users. Generally, these individuals visit local restaurants several times per month and enjoy trying out something new every now and again. The target audience also enjoys a stay-at-home date night with takeout and a movie. These users generally make use of restaurant reservation and food delivery apps, including but not limited to OpenTable, DoorDash, and UberEats. 

Project Timeline

The Date Night project serves as my Master's thesis and is the culmination of a year and a half of studying design, user experience, and human-computer interaction at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Altogether, the project timeline extended over a period of 10 weeks and included the following development beats:

Formal Project Proposal: Project Timeline

Understanding The User Friction & Business Value 

What is the user friction date night tackles.

This project kicked off with an exploration into the behavioral habits of couples in long-term relationships in order to map out the sociological paradigms structuring interpersonal social connections in the midst of a global pandemic. This yielded the following, surface-level user friction: 

Individuals seeking to (re)connect with each other through shared experiences need to select a movie - or other activity - for a "date night" but feel frustration when facing difficulty identifying a movie - or other activity - that both individuals are interested in.

Knowing this, what is the core problem the solution seeks to address?

Individuals seeking to (re)connect with each other through shared experiences need to establish, communicate, and compare interests to determine date night activities, but feel frustration when facing difficulty sifting through and identifying activities that both individuals are interested in. These users require support through an activity "matchmaking" service that compares and contrasts each partner's interests and desired date night activities while creating an intuitive pathway linking couples to the services that address their needs, such as OpenTable or Netflix. 

What business value might the solution bring?

After distilling the core user friction, the following questions were asked to determine the business value of the solution:

1. Does the market exist? What business value might the solution bring?

2. What is the market demand and size? How broad is the audience?

3. What is the competitive landscape? Are there similar products in the market and how are they positioned? Who is most successful in this space?

4. What is the value proposition? Who are the target users? How does the app achieve financial viability?

5. What are the key performance indicators for success? What are the qualitative and quantitative markers of a healthy product in this space?

Insight: There is an unmet market, and the market demand is high

Conversational user interviews and market research surveys were leveraged to reveal that 82.61% of participants report that they "often have trouble finding activities that both individuals are interested in". Continuing, 70.83% of users indicate "finding a time and date that suit everyone's schedules" is a primary stressor during activity planning. 

So, how big is the current market? 

Research into the current state of the market underscores the rapidly expanding nature of both the online dating and video streaming industries. With regard to the online dating industry, over 32 million Americans are currently participating in online dating. This forms a global industry that is expected to grow from $2.23 billion in 2019 to $3.592 billion by the end of 2025. In parallel, the global video streaming industry was valued at $38.56 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow to $149.34 billion by 2026. 

Formal Project Proposal: Market Research

Further, a competitive analysis of the most successful products growing the social connection industry revealed that comparing and contrasting the activity interests of multiple individuals remains an unmet need in the market. Most digital products in the matchmaking space, such as Tinder or Bumble, focus on pre-relationship services for romantic couples, neglecting the needs of friendships and long-term romantic relationships. Moreover, subscription service products, such as Netflix or Amazon Prime, focus on the vertical slice of a single individual's needs, rather than providing robust featuresets designed around social connection. 

Altogether, existing products in this market space are limited to:

Socially isolating product models that fail to support person-to-person connection

Pre-relationship services that do not build sustainable, long-term user engagement cycles

In contrast, Date Night supports partners and friends in finding ways to (re)connect with each other through shared interests and activities while creating an intuitive pathway linking individuals to the applications that address their date night needs, such as OpenTable or Netflix.

Insight: Exploring existing user behaviors uncovers a user friction potentially hindering the success of Date Night

A key problem emerging from user research involved addressing and supporting the ever-evolving individuality of users as each person's interests, passions, and life circumstances change over time. On one hand, as friendships and relationships change, Date Night must support the user through both happy and sad evolutions by avoiding potentially painful or traumatic reminders of emotional wounds. On the other hand, Date Night must also be sensitive to and cognizant of how an individual's tastes and interests evolve over time. The app necessitates a level of "revisiting" past content and prioritizing new activities that the users have not participated in. Providing this fine-tuned experience in a simplistic approach involves thorough and complex information architecture planning. 

How to design a system that reflects back the ever-evolving individuality of it's users?

A thorough competitive analysis was conducted to seek inspiration and key insights from apps with similar needs including Netflix's "Top Picks for You" approach, Pinterest's suggestion architecture, and Tinder's connection archival process.  

What was learned?

1. Designing for evolving individuality involves a balance between exploring new content and revisiting old content

" There’s no point in trying to eat something that has lost its flavor. I’d rather have many consuming if finite passions than wonder what it’s like to have even one."

- Katherine Ramsland Ph.D., 2014

An effective design focuses on surfacing new and exciting content, but takes time to revisit previous content to give space and allowance for a user's passions to evolve over time.

2. Create belonging, not shame

An effective design allows a user to quietly and seamlessly pause, archive, or renew connections with their social spheres. To be successful, the design must limit the negative influence of social pressures around popularity and self-valuation. 

3. Design for exploration

An effective design encourages users to experiment and explore their existing passions as well as delve into uncharted territory. User engagement should be playful and fun, pushing on the horizons of existing identified interests. 

Solution Ideation

Design pillars: from insights to design decisions.

Leveraging the key insights arising from research analysis and behavioral psychology for products in this space, the following design pillars were established:

Date Night  design pillars

With these design pillars in mind, the following methods of design ideation were utilized to reach the final product: 

1. User Sit-Ins to evaluate social coordination mental models

2. Freeform Sketching for train-of-thought iteration

3. Pen & Paper Sketches anchored around usability questions

4. Digital Wireframing at a low and mid-fidelity level

5. High-Fidelity Design and iteration

6. Prototyping and interaction design iteration

Process: User Sit-Ins

In order to effectively evaluate the social coordination and mental models involved in planning quality time between individuals, user "sit-ins" were conducted. These involved sitting in on conversations between groups of people and listening while event coordination was conducted in order to better understand what information is being consistently communicated. While noting key phrases, questions, information tidbits, and general behavioral habits, several patterns of communication emerged that directly informed the featureset for Date Night . As the following graphic shows, these patterns centered on 6 key data points: 

1. Schedule

2. Activity Category

3. Genre or Subcategory

4. Reputation

5. Accessibility

6. Substitutions & Negotiation

User sit-in key patterns summary

Process: Freeform Sketching

After evaluating the primary modes of communication through user sit-ins, a train-of-thought style sketching process began. This involved rapid iteration on very low-fidelity screens using digital pen and paper. By iterating rapidly on general screen layouts and flows, various concepts were put to paper and quickly ruled in or out. Through this rapid iteration, several home screen layouts were proposed and evaluated for usability. By anchoring Date Night around the Design for Exploration pillar, I was able to ascertain a design direction that involved leveraging the home screen as a place for users to explore new content and expand their library of activities. This naturally moved the product away from leveraging the home screen as a broad information overview - similar to what Fitbit provides - and into a more playful, engaging approach inspired by apps such as Tinder and Pinterest. Additionally, these train-of-thought sketches allowed me to explore multiple information architectures for the content. Initially, I delved into requiring the user to pick a content category as their first action. However, through rapid iteration I found that the design felt unapproachable and resembled apps where users take care of "chores". In order to reach a more user-centric, entertaining design I explored varying ways to surface content immediately without overwhelming the user and without surfacing content that felt unrelated or uninteresting.

Train-of-thought style sketches to quickly iterate on concepts

Process: Pen & Paper Sketches

Next, with a somewhat narrowed sense of the design direction, I began developing higher fidelity sketches for each screen that focused on the application's utility and purpose at each screen. In essence, each screen was posed with one question, "What do I do here?". In turn, each sketch answered this simple question by building interaction and information architectures anchored around prioritizing the answer to that question. In this manner, secondary and tertiary actions were  appropriately de-emphasized in order to make space for the primary user goal. Most importantly, working through the Date Night app design with digital pen and paper surfaced key outstanding questions and feature opportunities. In addition, I was able to show these pen and paper sketches to 4 users to better understand the expectations users would potentially have at every screen, including opportunities for growth. Most notably, although Date Night was originally inspired by romantic relationships, these user interviews revealed that the functionality initially planned for could be extended to friend groups! As a result, the pen and paper sketches were revisited to rapidly iterate on an expanded featureset that caters to friends and friend groups seeking ways to spend quality time together. This involved adding plans for group chats, large databases of "connections", and a stronger information architecture surrounding the diverse interests, subscriptions, and schedules of multi-party date nights. 

Digital pen & paper sketch of the  Date Night  home screen including outstanding questions

Digital pen & paper sketch of the  Date Night  My Connections screen including outstanding questions

Process: Digital Wireframing

Leveraging Adobe XD, I transitioned my digital pen and paper sketches to low-fidelity and mid-fidelity wireframes that pushed the design and functionality of Date Night even further. Seeing the product begin to take shape, I found that some of the information architecture and design elements that made sense on paper did not translate well to their wireframe counterparts. Most notably, the paper sketches imply that the cover art for the media in focus is separated by some negative space from the information panel that provides name, genre, year, and description details. Once put in wireframe form, this design felt like it was disconnecting the cover artwork from the information panel, and the two felt like unrelated elements. As a result, these elements were redesigned in a combined format that helped reinforce their interdependent nature. Additional on-screen elements were played around with to better balance negative space with interactable, engaging elements.

Initial round of low and mid-fidelity wireframes with stub images and text. 

This phase of development also allowed for the refinement of the product's accessibility. In order to maintain readability, all primary body text is delivered at 20pt in the Bio Sans, a simple sans serif, highly-readable font. Secondary text is a minimum of 16pt, also in Bio Sans. While developing the wireframes and initial product personality, all screens and features were evaluated in grayscale to ensure that color was not leveraged as a primary line of communication for users. Relying instead on contrast and font weight, the product is fully usable without color cues. 

Wireframes represented in black and white color filtering to address contrast levels

Process: High-Fidelity Design

To solidify, refine, and polish, the Date Night app, the final weeks of the thesis project were a sprint dedicated to developing a high-fidelity design and a functional prototype. To bring Date Night to life, a visual direction and personality for the application were iterated on. In conjunction with this visual polish, the a detailed pass was taken at fleshing out each screen in the core user flow to adequately illustrate 5 primary features:

1. Onboarding: Walking users through the primary app features

2. The Stack: The homepage hub - a stack of cards - that users swipe right or left on to express like and dislike

Date Night  UI Showcase

While working through the polishing sprints of Date Night , I was able to sit down with a handful of potential users to walk through the varying screens and better understand what user expectations exist at each level of interaction. Through these conversational user interviews, I was able to determine shortcomings and areas of opportunity for the design. These included refining the calls to action, the focus elements, the onboarding flow, and the calendar section. Most notably, the calendar was initially designed as an iOS-style vertical scroll. However, several user interviewees noted that this presentation of the calendar was overwhelming while also providing little useful information on what activities a user has upcoming. As a result, the calendar was modified to show only one month at a time with a horizontal scroll. This freed up the vertical scroll space for highly-specific and applicable reminders of upcoming social events that a user can quickly review. Consequently, the calendar screen holds much more digestible and usable information without overwhelming users. 

Date Night's My  Calendar page before and after iteration resulting from usability testing

Even further, the user interviews conducted during the design polish sprint revealed areas of the app that brought users delight. To this point, leaning into the playfulness and engaging nature of the homepage's card stack allowed the app to parallel the delight and light-hearted exploration users enjoy within apps like Tinder and Pinterest. 

"Oh! It's like Tinder, but for people who are already in relationships!"

- Usability Test Participant #4, 2020

Assortment of  Date Night  card stacks

A final accessibility pass for contrast and readability in grayscale was applied to safeguard the design. As the details and visual personality of the app became refined and polished, this grayscale assessment ensured that this augmented visual noise did not hinder or disrupt usability for hard of vision users. 

Summary view of the final UI within a grayscale filter to address contrast

Process: Prototyping

To complete the final design sprint for Date Night , Adobe XD was leveraged to create a working prototype for the primary featureset, including general interaction design and iteration. The prototype begins with a short onboarding flow that highlights the primary interactions and solution goals. Most importantly, the Date Night prototype highlights the intended functionality for the homepage card stack as well as the user flow for individuals looking to either set up or respond to a date night proposal. Even further, the prototype includes a user flow for accessing each connection's unique playlist. Altogether, the prototyping sprint illustrates how a user is able to move through and within the Date Night app for a variety of user stories. It conveys the personality, functionality, and business model for Date Night and lays a foundation for engineering implementation. 

Date Night  prototype walkthrough. Please contact me   for access to the full prototype!

Closing Thoughts

In the course of developing the Date Night app design and prototype, there were 3 primary challenges to overcome. 

1. How to turn the mundane into delightful

One of the first challenges encountered with the Date Night app was determining how to turn what is normally a stressful chore into a delightful user experience. More specifically, the comparing, contrasting, and untangling schedules, time zones, watch lists, subscriptions, and streaming services creates a headache that users shy away from. Exploring and playing around with how to turn this user experience into something fun and engaging was a difficult and rewarding challenge. To tackle it, I dove into apps that delight users with visual content like Pinterest and Tinder, and leveraged the playful and simple interactions as inspiration for Date Night . Making the sorting through media content a fun experience, and then handling the comparing and contrasting of interests behind the scenes turned an arduous process into a gamified user flow. Imbuing this concept with opportunities to explore, learn more about one's connections, and generally feel a sense of social connection during a socially distanced world pandemic created the fun, playful, and delightful user experience I aimed for with Date Night . 

2. How to reveal and conceal information architecture complexity

Another challenge for the Date Night project involved the complex information architecture and how it is both revealed and concealed from the user. On one hand, the application demands that users are at least aware of the complex data the app can handle and organize on behalf of users. On the other hand, the minutia and details of that data and information architecture are not nearly as useful to a user as the results of the analysis are. Finding a balance between revealing the complex power of the application and concealing the overwhelming details was an important and nuanced design challenge. Tackling this involved approaching the concept with robust user interview analysis and behavioral psychology insights. Leveraging existing user mental models and sitting in on conversations between potential users as they coordinate date night plans illuminated a natural and intuitive information architecture that is infused into the Date Night app concept. 

One of the biggest constraints to this project was maintaining rapid iteration and agility under a 10 week time constraint. To manage this challenge, I began the project with a timeline in mind to provide structure to the process. In addition, my access to thorough user interviews was limited by both the time constraint and the limitations of the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, I transitioned away from the traditional design process model wherein a segment of time is dedicated at regular intervals to user interviews and usability testing. Rather than have these two phases segmented out, I infused these into the process and continued conversations with my user interview pool throughout development. This allowed my project to be agile and adaptive to feedback throughout it's development. In addition, this allowed for the resultant feedback to be as iterative as the design was, which ultimately safeguarded against large reworks. 

At the core, this project helped me learn and practice taking a concept from user frustration to elegant product solution. Turning feature gaps into design pillars and leveraging a humanized approach to developing a technological solution, I learned how to effectively ideate, iterate, illustrate, and present the full life-cycle of a user experience design. 

Moreover, I learned to not only act on, but actively encourage critique of my process and my design, and to adapt to a rapidly changing cultural context during a world pandemic. 

Most importantly, I learned how to take the experience of frustration and leverage it to identify market gaps for which I can design highly creative and user-centric solutions. From this project, I take with me a passion for developing vivid and vibrant user experiences that balance immersive depth with purposeful design.   

Thank you for following along with my journey through the process of creating Date Night!  Please feel encouraged to reach out on LinkedIn - I would absolutely love to hear your insights, feedback, and ideas!

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10 Award-Winning Architecture Thesis Projects From Around The World

Neha Sharma

8 mins read

It is always interesting to see the architecture thesis projects students come up with every year. With each passing batch, there is more knowledge passed down and a better base to begin. The result is a rise in innovation and creativity by students, and overall a better mix!

Architecture thesis is an ordeal all students are intimidated by. From choosing an architecture thesis topic all the way to giving a great final thesis review , every step is equally challenging and important. It is that turn in an architecture student’s life that pushes them to churn out their best. Therefore, it is inevitable to come across some life-altering design solutions through architecture theses across the world.

To identify and appreciate these exceptional final projects by architecture students, many organisations across the world like Archistart, Council of Architecture, etcetera, award recognition for excellence in architecture thesis and also grant financial support for further research to the projects worthy of being realised.

Read through the list of 10 such award-winning architecture theses across the world with links to study them in detail!

1. ISTHME // Le CHAOS SENSIBLE - Dafni Filippa and Meriam Sehimi

ISTHME // Le Chaos Sensible - Architecture Thesis of the Year 2020 (Source: www.nonarchitecture.eu)

Starting from the most recent one, the award-winning thesis is a proposal of a mixed-use building in the capital city of Ghana, Africa, that aims to cater to a large spectrum of functions of the Ghanaian community, especially living, commercial, sports and leisure.

This culturally thoughtful architecture thesis project is an honest effort to celebrate the African spirit and empower the local community, which reflects in the ‘sensible chaos’ of the design.

2. INFRA-PAISAJE: New Landscape Architecture - Luis Bendezu

INFRA-PAISAJE: New Landscape Infrastructure for San Juan de Marcona - Special Mention: Architectural Thesis Award ATA 2018 (Source: www.archistart.net)

Landscape architecture manifests the connection between humans and nature. The landscape thesis project proposes a series of technical elements for the creation of a seamless landscape between the urbanised territory of San Juan de Marcona in Peru and the suburban parts, thus forming a cohesive townscape which converses with the coastline and brings active life to the otherwise desolate expanse of the region.

3. Water Exploratorium - Satyam Gyanchandani

Water Exploratorium - Ace of Space Design Awards: Outstanding Student Thesis Award (Source: www.architectandinteriorsindia.com)

Water is a life-giving resource and considered sacred across many cultures. To sustain life on earth, it is important to save and use it with utmost efficiency. The architecture thesis project showcases experiential design through and for water. It also tackles design challenges like infotainment by educating visitors on water conservation and creating a static built form for an element as fluid as water for a wholesome sensory experience.

Want to know how to come up with such fascinating thesis topics? Read: 7 Tips on Choosing the Perfect Architecture Thesis Topic For You

4. Architecture for Blind People - Mariagiorgia Pisano

Between Light and Shadow: Architecture for Blind People - 1st Place: Architectural Thesis Award 2017 (Source: www.archistart.net)

Inclusive design offers a wide-spread net of research opportunities and is gaining much-needed recognition today!

Design for people with disabilities is dealt with empathy in this architecture thesis project, where the focus is exploring innovative design solutions for the visually deprived and getting the design of rehabilitation centres as close as possible to meeting their needs.

5. Mosul Postwar Camp - Edoardo Daniele Stuggiu and Stefano Lombardi

Mosul Postwar Camp - 1st Place: Architectural Thesis Award ATA 2019 (Source: www.archistart.net)

War does permanent damage to a person’s mental health. The survivors experience trauma, loss and even destruction of self-identity. The architecture thesis project proposes a postwar camp at Mosul, Iraq, aiming to create a place where people of various backgrounds can peacefully coexist and build a community based on humanitarian values to prevent war in the future.

6. Consolation through Architecture - A New Journey through the Abandoned Landscapes of Varanasi - Navin Lucas Sebastian

Consolation Through Architecture - COA National Awards for Excellence in Architectural Thesis 2016 (Source: www.coa.gov.in)

The intangible aspects of design are tough to pinpoint but necessary for the essence and feel of it. This urban design thesis project shows light on architecture’s influence on one’s emotions with the holy city of Varanasi in India as the backdrop. With a focus on issues arising due to the city’s cremation grounds, the thesis explores innovative and sustainable solutions for the same.

7. Unfinished Tor Vergata Scenario - Carmelo Gagliano

Unfinished Tor Vergata Scenario - 1st Place: Architectural Thesis Award 2020 (Source: www.archistart.net)

When it comes to building projects, the trend of the ‘unfinished’ is something Italy has been increasingly seeing in the past few years. The most popular unfinished public work is Calatrava’s Olympic Stadium, which is the main object for reuse in the proposal of a science museum at Rome Tor Vergata.

This architecture thesis project explores the existing building trends of the region, aims to reinvent the iconic building and become a scientific attraction for tourists and locals.

8. Chachapoyas Peri-Urban Park - Nájat Jishar Fernández Díaz

Structures for Incidents in Nature: Chachapoyas Peri-Urban Park - Special Mention: Architectural Thesis Award ATA 2019 (Source: www.archistart.net)

Growing urban areas are a concern as they slowly consume the ecology surrounding them. Chachapoyas (forest of clouds) in Peru faces a similar problem from the expanding urban confinements which are slowly taking over the beautiful landscapes for which the place is particularly famous.

The project aims to mend the damage by connecting every speck of open land available in the region and converting it into a network of green corridors, making for an interesting urban planning thesis!

9. Garden of Reconciliation, Kashmir - Jay Shah

Garden of Reconciliation: Miniature Drawing - COA National Award in Excellence for Architectural Thesis 2018 (Source: www.uni.xyz)

Cultural and political unrest in a region has always been the glue for controversies, leading to public tip-toeing around such topics. This bold architecture thesis project looks at the conflicted region of Kashmir, to analyse its cultural, social and artistic practices and then come up with an architecture program best suited for the region. This is traversed in the form of a mixed-use landscape that aims to find a solution and is not the solution itself!

Such theses usually require intensive site studies. Read: Site Analysis Categories You Need to Cover For Your Architecture Thesis Project to know more.

10. Adaptive Reuse of STP Grain Silos - Alila Mhamed

Poudrière Community Hub - 2nd Place: Architectural Thesis Awards ATA 2020 (Source: www.archistart.net)

Adaptive reuse of spaces that have been uninhabited for a long time does true justice to the core values of architecture and design. This thesis project explores the creative redefinition of the old STP Grain silos complex, the first mill constructed as a part of the Poudrière industrial park in the present-day city of Sfax, Tuscany, Italy, by converting it into a mixed-use hub for art, commerce, trade, administration and collaboration.

Numerous amazing architecture thesis projects come to light every year and the list is not limited to this one! At the learning stages, people have the power to unleash their creativity without any limitations and such scenarios might just lead to the right solutions for the time and society we live in.

Giving your architecture thesis project? Check out our A-Z Architecture Thesis Guide!

Stay updated with interesting insights and episodes on architecture thesis projects with Novatr's Resources !

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Related articles

7 Tips on Choosing the Perfect Architecture Thesis Topic For You

Site Analysis Categories You Need to Cover For Your Architecture Thesis Project

How to Give a Fantastic Architecture Thesis Review That Stands Out

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M.A. and M.F.A. graduates develop innovative future practices, broaden scholarly research in visual design and make a meaningful contribution to society – all through the process of writing practical and scholarly thesis.

Graduates dive into design’s impact on issues in business, wayfinding and 3D design, finance, education, letterpress, healthcare and information management. Numerous graduates have jumpstarted their careers in graphic design from thesis projects.

Past thesis projects have answered questions such as how mobile technology can increase a child’s exposure to outdoor play; how explaining a student’s educational loan debt visually might influence borrowing decisions; and how companies as large as Microsoft could improve recruitment technology for mobile job-seekers.

View an archive of thesis projects that are unavailable digitally  here .

Recently Completed Thesis Projects 

Recognition and denotation of photographic manipulation.

By: Kathryn Lynn Voith

The media is often blamed for poor body image and low self-esteem due to its use of Photoshop and other editing programs to create a beauty ideal that many consider unrealistic and unattainable. Previous research has shown that an understanding of manipulation used in these images tempers the negative effects, but no research has been done to determine the average level of media literacy when viewing manipulated photographs. This study surveys a college-aged audience to determine their ability to identify photographic manipulation and their acceptance of different levels of editing, and determine whether or not a photographic denotation system indicating manipulation is needed in the industry... Read more. 

Beyond the Screen: Embedded Interfaces as Retail Wayfinding Tools

By: Kathleen Barnes Evans

This paper aims to widen the discourse on experience as an economic entity, which exists within retail settings that are deliberately designed and carefully controlled by service providers to elicit desired consumer behaviors. This body of research aims to underscore the importance of in-store wayfinding within the specific context of grocery shopping in large supermarkets by investigating the current state of affairs in the art of consumer experience design and the differentiation of consumer experience through wayfinding in retail spaces... Read more.

Success Metrics and Sustainable Business Models in Social Innovation Design Firms

By: Jordan Kauffman

This thesis is an investigation into sustainable business models and the different evaluation methods utilized in social innovation design. Over the last twenty years, there has been an increase in awareness and desire within the design industry to utilize design as a way to help solve some of the large, systemic social problems facing people all over the world. To make this work financially and sustainably, designers are utilizing a variety of for-profit and nonprofit business models. However, these business models are potentially hindering social innovation designers’ access to the resources needed to measure the impact of their work... Read more.

Chasing Vertical: Diversity & Recognition in the field of Graphic Design

By: Omari Souza

Despite the growing number of minority students entering college, those numbers are not reflected in design-related fields. A recent Georgetown study suggests that African Americans are far better represented in the social serving fields than in any other majors. Chasing Vertical- Diversity and Recognition in the field of Graphic Design utilizes design research methods to investigate what African American students prioritize when choosing a college major. The intention of this investigation is to gain a better understanding of why the design field has failed to attract African American students, and what practitioners and recruiters in the field can learn from the successes of other fields in developing diverse populations of learners... Read more.

Symmetrical Speech: Qualitative Textual Analysis In Humanist Digital Design

By: Alan Walker

There is a widely held colloquialism that iPhones have more computing power than NASA's Apollo mission control systems. How a person sorts out the technicalities of this assertion is beyond the point; most people can agree that modern computers provide dynamic opportunities for a range of applications. One such application is research and inquiry in the field of the Humanities including history, literature, and culture. Specifically, academics studying textually based, artifacts past and present. People may now input a body of text such as a speech or poem into a digital tool that will output a reading of minuscule detail. During the interaction the researcher can easily discover: the frequency of certain words, recurring parts of speech, and even emotional sentimentality... Read more.

Breath in Motion: Breath Awareness Design Research Study

By: Cassandra Reese

The rising crescendo of the digital lifestyle has profoundly affected the human capacity for sustained focus. Since 2000, the human attention span has dropped from 12 to 8 seconds, with decreased long-term focus as users increase digital consumption. With users not getting off their devices anytime soon, and technostress on the rise, the question arises how designers might better meet users where they are by designing more mindful interactions. Research in the field of mindfulness shows its potential to reduce stress, increase productivity, and improve overall wellbeing... Read more.

Video games help to prepare girls for a competitive future in STEM: An analysis of how video games help to build visual-spatial skills and the positive influence early childhood gaming can have on girls

By: Leigh Hughes

Play is beneficial for children in every aspect of their lives. Play gives kids the freedom to explore and problem solve while freely using their imagination in a safe environment. Looking forward, it is imperative to allow girls this freedom to explore digital games and all of their possibilities. Video games help to build visual-spatial capabilities, which is the ability to mentally construct and organize 3-dimensional objects in an imaginary space (Paul, 2013), a skill that promotes advanced mathematical and engineering skills... Read more.

Organic Web Design: Exploring Nature as Metaphor in Responsive Web Design

By: Alex Catanese

The rise of responsive design as an approach to web design in the last decade has shaped the ways that designers consider the web as a medium. As this approach has developed, its practitioners have begun forming patterns and templates which might limit alternative modes of thinking in the field. Criticism of this approach is still in its early stages, leaving open an opportunity for reflection, expansion, and the exploration of alternative modes of thinking and making for considering the medium. The web browser has properties which are inherently flexible, fluid, and adaptive—begging for a parallel exploration of flexible, fluid, adaptive systems as external inspiration for web design... Read more.

Audio & Visual Design Designing Holistic Sensory Experiences within Environments

By: Quintin Jon Steele

What are the sensory limits of design? Will emerging technologies continue to push design into new realms of practice? How can multimodal environments adapt to users providing more holistic sensory experiences? What is the role of a graphic designer, in the growing world of multimodal design? My thesis research investigates the ways audio and visual cues combine to create more dynamic and immersive environments...  Read more .

Using typography and iconography to express emotion (or meaning) in motion graphics as a learning tool for ESL (English as a second language) in a multi-device platform

By: Anthony John Ezzo

Using typography and iconography to express emotion (or meaning) in motion graphics as a learning tool for ESL (English as a second language) in a multi-device platform. Expressive typography in motion graphics were used to explore vocabulary learning for ESL students. The three widely used teaching methods include: behaviorism, phonics, and grammar translation... Read more .

Application of the Deconstructive Discourse as a Generative Thinking Framework 

By: Daniel Ricardo Echeverri 

Strategies, systems, experiences and services are part of the new challenges faced today by design students and designers. These challenges include shifting audiences with specific needs due to the broad offer of services and products that often create new needs. These needs include limited resources, sustainable solutions with low environmental impact, and production costs... Read more .

Usability of WordPress for Visual Communication Designers

By: Victoria J Pickett 

WordPress is currently the most popular content management system. The popularity of content management systems is that they allow websites to be built and maintained by nontechnical users without requiring a programmer. This thesis looks at the usability of the WordPress Dashboard interface for visual communication designers... Read more . 

Private Labels and Personal Care: A Focus on Store Brand Package Design, Branding Design and Consumer Attitudes Towards Private Label Personal Care Products

By: Larrie Leon King 

National manufacturer brands generally outsell private label brands in most product areas. For instance, Hoyer and Brown found that when inexperienced buyers were asked to decide between two brands, they were more likely to choose the brand name with which they were most familiar. However, during periods of economic distress, consumers tend to purchase store brand products, as they are generally less expensive than those branded nationally... Read more .

Strategies for Graphic Design aimed at the Multiple Sclerosis Community: The Development of the Inclusion Framework to Assist in Design Thinking and Visual Communication Artifacts

By: Andrew Brian Fogle

This thesis will address the challenges of living with MS by researching visual communication in a printed context to ensure that current best practices are creating accessible and comprehensible communications for this audience. The primary and secondary research will focus on three specific symptoms common in the community. Visual impairment, cognitive changes and fatigue are key manifestations of the MS community and the symptoms that could be most affected by inaccessible design choices... Read more . 

Designer as Cultivator: An Exploration in Critical Making for the Care of Interdisciplinary Culture

By: Ryan M Hammond 

Alongside design's growth as an interdisciplinary field of study and practice throughout the last century, debate has arisen as to its role in the cultivation of society. At a fundamental level, it can be considered a method of action that determines successful communication of an idea, whether that idea is forthright or implicit. As a multifaceted field that encompasses several concentrations of specialized study, it has historically played the role of mediator between the arts and sciences—an interdisciplinary approach to communication that shares notable similarities with classical rhetoric... Read more . 

Designing for Museum Relevancy: Improving Innovation and Adaptability in Museum Management with Design Thinking

By: Rachel K. Hellgren

As many art museums continue to struggle with funding and maintaining relevancy, they also remain internally divided. Museum professionals hired for their expertise tend toward an internally dominant mindset that can drive interdepartmental segregation. They also do not look to the visitor as a deep source of innovation. Recent changes in philanthropic patterns are intensifying the never-ending challenges of funding and budget cuts... Read more . 

Biometrics in Interaction and Interface Design

By: Joshua A Kruszynski 

This research investigates the creation of human-computer interfaces which adapt to the cognitive strain of individual users. Research is already underway to employ biometrics for purposes other than medical diagnosis, such as identification and control of prosthetics. This research considers biometric systems—specifically EEG—in the context of interface design, for the purposes of common human-computer interaction... Read more . 

Information Acquisition and Sequential Narratives

By: Chad Allen Lewis 

This thesis explores the comic’s role in reading comprehension and information acquisition. The comic medium offers a potentially high level of effectiveness due to the visual narrative’s many modalities of learning within it’s constitution, both design and aesthetic. Specifically, this thesis explores the comic’s inherent design elements to determine the effectiveness of the sequential visual narrative as a vehicle to tell substantive stories through the intersection of visual and textual storytelling... Read more . 

Developing an Arabic Typography Course for Visual Communication Design Students in the Middle East and North African Region

By: Basma Almusallam

Typography is one of the main elements of visual communication design. Acquiring good typographical skills is crucial for designers to effectively convey information and meaning. These skills should be taught in schools by applying a proper typographic foundation and improving skills through experience. Arabic typography has been recently introduced in Visual Communication Design programs in the Middle East and North African region with an emphasis on typeface design... Read more . 

Experiential Graphic Design: Generating Urban Renewal by Improving Safety and Connectivity in Bicycle Pathways

By: Molly Lawrence 

Post-industrial cities today are experiencing an influx of new generations moving into local urban communities. Street culture and walkable downtowns and districts are progressively developing in these urban areas, and the need is present for safer and interconnected bicycle infrastructure. Research has proven that the success of a walkable and bikeable environment plays a significant role in the comprehensive sustainability of a city... Read more . 

User-Centered Approach for Takeout Packaging Design

By: Tipsaran Choknitivet

Competition of grocery store prepared meals has become more intense in the market today. According to The NPD Group’s ongoing foodservice market research, over 40 percent of the U.S. population purchases prepared foods from grocery stores, and consumers rate visits to grocery stores higher than traditional quick service restaurants on variety and healthy options. However, Packaging Matters, the signature consumer research study in 2015, collects data about the role of packaging in product satisfaction... Read more . 

Fluid identity: History & Practice of Dynamic Visual Identity Design

By: Jason E. Murdock 

The main aim of this thesis is twofold. Firstly, this investigation seeks to broaden the scope of graphic design history as it pertains to visual identity design by documenting the existence of an alternative paradigm—dynamic visual identity design—which has developed alongside the prevailing visual identity design paradigm—static visual identity design—but which is not currently well documented or understood... Read more . 

Designing for Hedonic Shopping Motives: Creating a Framework for E-commerce Imagery

By: Shelby Elizabeth Muter 

The ways in which people research, shop and purchase items has evolved in tandem with the evolution and expansion of e-commerce consumer purchasing. However, the reasons that people shop have essentially stayed the same. It is widely accepted that consumers are motivated by either utilitarian or hedonic goals. Utilitarian consumers are primarily concerned with purchasing products in an efficient and timely manner; whereas, hedonic consumers are primarily focused on the potential entertainment and enjoyment that arises from the shopping experience (Childers, Carr, Peck & Carson, 2001)... Read more . 

Small Businesses and Their Perceived Value of Design

By: Ian McCullough 

This study is a study of small business owners and their perceptions on graphic design. The basis for this study was to gain an understanding of whether or not small businesses view professional graphic design as a beneficial service worth pursuing, and why or why not they are employing the services of professional designers... Read more . 

Design Interjection for Business Incubators

By: Todd Louis Wendorff 

No matter how an entrepreneur defines failure, statistics on the success rate of start-up businesses is disheartening. Around 30 to 40 percent of start-up businesses liquidate all assets, losing all investor funding, while 70 to 80 percent fail to produce the projected return on investment. There is a strong need for effective incubation facilities which compress the learning curves of the start-ups and provide them with necessary initial support in order to improve their sustainability... Read more .

Design Education for Ugandan Secondary Schools

By: Penina Acayo

Uganda has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite this predicament, young adults have the ability and the capacity to drive positive social change and economic growth, if given the appropriate resources and opportunities” (International Youth Foundation, 2011)...  Read more .

Designing for Education Debt Management: Improving Student Financial Experiences Through Design

By: Jason Bacher

For a growing number of students, education debt is becoming a familiar and common reality. Borrowing money for a college education is unlike any financial experience that exists today. Unlike taking out a loan for a car or a mortgage for a home, students enroll in a cycle of continuous investing-potentially carrying on for a lifetime...  Read more .

Decentralized Design Management: Managing People and the Design Process for a Geographically Dispersed Creative Team

By: Brian Buirge

Collaboration is a key factor to fostering innovation, and in the creative economy innovation is indispensable to success. Advances in technology are evolving the ways in which designers, as well as people in every profession, collaborate. The growth of social networking, instant messaging, web conferencing, online project management, and even distance learning are clear indicators of this evolution...  Read more .

From the Wall to the Web: A Microformat for Visual Art

By: Emir Bukva

When I was an undergraduate student at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, I worked for the Art History department. My job was to digitize as many 35 mm analog slides as I could from a library of thousands...  Read more .

Capturing the Present, Engaging the Future: Designing a Social History Network in a Digital Age

By: Aimee Crane

For thousands of years, stories have been the ultimate source and basic instruction for human emotion and understanding. Stories operate on many levels and communicate on multiple ways that we as humans understand and appreciate...  Read more .

An Informed Emergency: Improving Patient Comfort and Comprehension in and After the Emergency Department

By: Ben Dansby

Several months before beginning this thesis project, I was struck one day with a pain in my abdomen that had me literally writhing on the ground. I called a friend, and through gritted teeth, I asked if he could take me to the emergency room...  Read more . 

SYNC IN PROGRESS: Connecting the Technology Gap Between Gen Y Students and Their Professors

By: Jason Goupil

The Millennials are a group, born from 1977-1994, that have experienced great technological advancements during their formative years as children. Cell phones, computers, the internet, social networks, video games, iPods, digital tablets, and GPS have impacted their lives in big ways...  Read more . 

Painting heroes: Using illustration to improve the standing of baseball in the inner city

By: Steven E Hughes

This thesis explores the development of a series of illustrated portraits of current African American baseball players. It documents the artistic process and research necessary to make a narrative painting...  Read more . 

Teaching Design Concepts through Letterpress

By: Robert Keleman

Teaching Design Concepts through Letterpress Are tactile and visual demonstrations using letterpress equipment useful in teaching basic design concepts to undergraduate graphic design students? College freshmen have grown up with the computer as a learning tool...  Read more . 

Note-taking and Information Retention and Recall

By: Gary Meacher

Information retention is paramount to the education process. There is not a single act in academia that does not require extensive information recall. Beginning with the middle school grades, teachers increasingly rely on the lecture method of instruction. Incidentally, the middle grades are a critical period in the instruction of study skills as the students in that age range are developmentally ready to become strategic learners...  Read more . 

The American Craftsman: A Contemporary Revival

By: Nathanael Mucha

Beginning with the Arts and Crafts period in the 1800s, craft has established itself as a vital cultural and socio-economic force in Western society. As the original movement cooled at the beginning of the 20th century, it evolved under the pressures generated by World War I and II taking on different forms as it influenced various art movements...  Read more . 

Combining Digital Media and Unstructured, Outdoor Play in Order to Foster Healthy Child Development

By: Amy Dwyer Peck

More and more, children are spending time indoors in front of a television, computer or electronic gaming device. They are not spending time outside playing and interacting with other children and the natural world around them. Another aspect limiting children's opportunities for unstructured, outdoor play is their parent’s fear of the outside world, and a need to over-schedule, creating perfectly controlled environments for their children...  Read more . 

Online Learning as a Tool for Enhancing Design Education

By: Jason Richburg

Universities are under great pressure to lower costs and operate more efficiently. This fact has lead to the widespread adoption of distance learning as a means of delivering curriculum. Due to the fiscal demands of their universities, and in response to changes occurring in the professional realm, many design departments find themselves needing to adapt...  Read more . 

Business Environmental Design, Consumer Visual Literacy and Self-Concept

By: Sarah Rutherford

This research explores the hypothesis that the identity and environmental design of a business, whether created intentionally or not, attracts customers because it affirms some aspect of the customer’s self-concept...  Read more . 

Environmental Graphic Design Changing the Perceptions of Divided Communities through Cultural and Social Connectivity

By: Andrew Schwanbeck

Urban segregation occurs when a city’s diversities create perceived barriers around concentrated clusters of social groups. When these divisions are extreme enough, communities become shut off from the rest of the city and often fall into a perpetual cycle struggle and degradation...  Read more . 

The Dynamic Electronic Textbook: Enhancing the Student's Learning Experience

By: Kayne Toukonen

This thesis examines how contemporary education theory could support and justify certain advanced e-textbook design features, enhancing the student’s learning experience and fostering educational growth...  Read more . 

Diamond in the Rough: Telling the Story of Hough's League Park with Temporary Environmental Graphic Design

By: Jennifer Vokoun

In Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood at the corner of East 66th and Lexington Avenue sits an abandoned brick building in front of a large open field. This is the only physical remnant of League Park, the ballpark where Cleveland’s professional baseball teams played from 1891 to 1950. For many this space is hallowed ground, rich in baseball history and Cleveland history...  Read more . 

Social Media as a Meas of Promoting Peer-Based Learning in Design Education

By: Adina (Feigenbaum) Warshawsky

Critique is an integral part of design education whereby students review and evaluate projects in order to learn design principles and develop skills such as self-evaluation and giving constructive feedback to others...  Read more .

Using Design Strategy to add Value to a Political Campaign

By: Lee Zelenak

At the onset of a project, the first question designers like to ask is: why? It seems like such a simple question and yet far too often it goes unanswered, or the answer is, 'Because we have always done it like this.' What has always attracted me to the concept of design strategy is that it provides a platform to help design better understood goals, objectives, and possibilities, while also providing tangible results showing better outcomes...  Read more . 

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Thesis Helpers

Find the best tips and advice to improve your writing. Or, have a top expert write your paper.

110 Fantastic Graphic Design Thesis Ideas To Succeed

Graphic Design is an art where professionals plan and practice creating visual and textual content to deliver messages. In today’s world, it’s the most innovative and most effective way for businesses to connect with their consumers.

Graphic design has many forms, from a simple business logo to a complex page layout on a website. The magazine covers, posters, logos, business cards, websites, and mobile apps are only a few examples of what graphic design businesses can deliver as their concept to their clients and audience. A good graphic designer should know how to attract people by displaying innovative and appealing content. Hence, it’s crucial to master the ways to express ideas creatively.

Why Is Graphic Design Thesis Important for Students?

Creating an excellent thesis using some unique and intricate graphic design research topics is essential to have a successful career in this field. Also, it’s crucial to do graphic design research to wow potential employers for good prospects. The thesis paper is the gist of what you have learned for your bachelor’s degree in university life; therefore, it’s vital to showcase creative thinking and impressive skills. There are tons of thesis ideas for graphic design that allow the students to be creative and show their full potential. To help you ace your graphic design research paper, we will be discussing every step of creating the thesis in detail.

Creating A Winning Thesis Proposal for Graphic Design

For the best graphic designing thesis project, students should have strong writing skills and complete knowledge of visual design principles. Moreover, students should know the advanced application of the skills they have learned. Furthermore, choosing the topic according to your grade in school, college or university is essential. Senior students can choose a thesis topic from the several graphic design senior thesis topics available online. Sometimes people attend workshops to learn the art of creating an impressive graphic design research paper. We have simplified the thesis writing process for students who are not keen to participate in workshops. People who have some knowledge may also benefit from the blog as it provides simple tips that you can follow to get started. Here are some things to keep in mind when preparing and writing you graphic design dissertation:

• Have a catchy introduction. A perfect intro will create a good impression and would encourage the reader to read on. Therefore, it’s essential to choose a passionate topic as anything written with heart can easily catch the reader’s attention. Unleash your artistic side to express yourself eloquently. It’s better to start with a short introduction. Keep it brief so that you can capture the reader’s attention.
• Create a strong problem Statement. Knowing the background of the problem or the topic you are dealing with allows you to create a convincing problem statement. In this part of the thesis, you will highlight your research question around the cause of your research. You should write a page-long description of evaluating various options and choose the most suitable one. This part of the graphic design research doesn’t have to be elaborate.
• Include an Aim and Objectives of the Study section. Use this part of the thesis to provide reasons why the chosen topic is significant. Let the reader know about your intent behind the research. These are the outcomes that you hope to achieve from your project. Also, use this part of the graphic design writing to display the objectives behind your research. The reader should have all the answers to why you want to address the highlighted graphic design issues.
• Describe the method you use. In this section of your thesis, describe the methodology you will use to attain your goal. You should highlight all the methods available, compare them and select the most viable option. You can add details about the software, print media, or any other media platform you have used to complete your graphic design writing.
• Prepare a literature review. Creating a literature review is an integral part of the project as it contains details of the type of research you carried out and how you conducted them. Also, it provides a theoretical framework for your dissertation, giving the reader an insight into where you started, the ideas you chose, and where the concepts have brought you.
• Highlight the key ideas, scope, and limitations of the study. Coming towards the end of your research, you should specify the critical objectives attained from the project. Also, the project’s scope should identify the advanced uses and the limitation of the concept discussed in the thesis. Keep your content original and take as much thesis help you need from the sources available for an outstanding dissertation.

Graphic Design Thesis Topics

According to your interest, there are many topics you can look for on the internet for your graphic design thesis topic. We have researched to compile the 110 most interesting graphic design research paper topics; you are sure to find the best one for your thesis. From environment enthusiast to an art school student, our diverse topics will help you find the best topic for your thesis.

Best Graphic Design Thesis Topics

• Uses Of Graphic Design To Create Environmental Awareness
• Current And Future Trends In The Commonly Used Software For Graphic Designs
• Design And Culture Expectations
• Enhancing Understanding Through Visual Imaging
• The New Graphic And Media Designs
• The Fall Of Desktop Publishing
• Development Of Web Animation.How The Internet Shaped Animation Content
• The Evolution Of Newspaper Ads In The Technological Era
• Role Of Personality In Arts
• Set Creation In The Film Industry Using Graphic Design
• Theme Design For Restaurants
• Elements Of Persuasion And Graphic Design
• Commercial Design: Dealing With The Clients To Facilitate Feedback
• Organisationational Branding And Websites.
• Role Of Visual Hierarchy To Create Customer Perception Of E-Commerce Stores
• Art Directors: Transformational Heads
• How Graphic Designs Are Used In The Making Of Directories
• Role Of Graphic Design In The Evolution Of Modern Cinema
• Creating A Colorful Classroom
• Typeset: Principles And Techniques
• How Color Theory Effects Graphic Design
• How To Smartly Use Space In Design Esthetics
• Effect Of Organizational Branding And Logos On Sales
• Use Of Graphic Design For Social Commentary And Street Art
• Use Of Graphic Design For Movie Festival Promotion
• Newspaper Ads And Graphic Design. How They Mold Consumer Buying Behavior
• Graphic Designing Tools And How The Industry They Have Impacted The Industry
• How Does Color Psychology Trigger Emotions? A Case Study On Baker-Miller Pink

Top Graphic Design Thesis Ideas

• A Case Study On Renowned Graphic Designers Of The Time
• Influence Of Tv On Graphic Design
• Role Of Computers In The Evolution Of Graphic Design
• How Graphic Design Is Used In Game Interfaces To Attract Consumers
• Importance Of Balance In Creating Impressive Visuals. A Graphic Design Basic
• Conventional Designing Software Vs. Online Graphic Designing Tools. Which Is More Convenient?
• How Does Visual Heuristics Help In Segmenting The Viewer’s Attention?
• Use Of Graphic Design For Political Satire
• How Brands Use Negative Spacing To Affect The Subconscious Minds Of Consumers
• Role Of Web Graphics In Creating Visitor’s Trust
• Defining Consumer Perceptions To Web Designs
• Theories Of Graphic Design. Application And Importance In The Design Industry
• Human Psychological Connections And Color Selection
• How Online Gaming Trends Have Changed
• Impact Of Theory Of Repetition On Consumer Buying Behavior
• Multimedia Design And How It Has Changed The World Around Us
• Importance Of Graphic Design To Generate Sales For Online Service Providers
• Evolution Of Digital Art Over The Years
• Graphic Design In The 20th Century
• Advertisement And The Subliminal Messages
• Use Of Powerpoint Presentations To Create Amazing Designs
• Graphic Design Trends In The 21st Century

Excellent Thesis Ideas for Graphic Design

• Propaganda Posters: Political Messages
• How Email Marketing Has Changed
• Development Of Career Paths In Graphic Design
• Essentials Of Business Branding
• How Graphic Design Revolutionized Product Packaging
• Redesigning A Book Cover
• Growth Of Graphic Design Over The Years
• Evolution Of Vehicle Wraps Using Graphic Design
• Cost-Benefit Analysis Of Investing In A Graphic Designer
• Analyzing The Role Of Colors In Graphic Design
• Trade Show Displays And Signage To Create Attention
• Analyzing Various Techniques Used By Graphic Designers
• Use Of Graphic Design To Create Infographics
• Exploring How Service Design Impacts Visual Information
• Studying The Application Of Graphic Design In Advanced Technology
• How Does The Use Of Warm Colors Help Viewers Connect With Your Facebook Posts
• A Case Study On Consumer Psychology-Difference Between Warm And Cool Colors
• Use Of Graphic Design To Create Images For Blogs
• Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Graphic Design
• Photo Collages And Their Importance For Youngsters
• Evaluating The Value Of The Visual Design Structure

Interesting Graphic Design Research Topics

• Impact Of Artistic Sensibility In Graphic Design
• How Banners To Aid In Conveying Messages
• Analyzing Average Budget For Graphic Design Projects
• Importance Of Graphic Design Education Across Borders
• Impact Of Appealing Products On Consumer Choices
• Retargeting Ads To Reach Out To The Target Market More Efficiently
• Perspectives Of People On Visual Communication Design Education
• Learning How To Apply The Theory To The Graphic Design Course
• Analyzing The Trends In Graphic Design During The Past Decade
• Graphic Novel-A Literature Review
• Business Cards. An Essential For Businesses
• Relationship Between Pop Culture And Graphic Design
• Recognizing The Qualities Of A Professional Graphic Designer
• Using Secondary Research To Explore The Various Features Of Web Design
• Creative Coloring Books For Kids
• Outcomes And Impact Of Graphic Design On The Consumer Market For The Top Brands Of The Country
• Reinterpretation Of A Classic Book Cover
• How Does The Design Language Trigger Brand Retention In The Minds Of Customers
• Use Of Animation To Create Beautiful Postcards
• 10-Minute Projects That Will Amaze You

Graphic Design Senior Thesis Topics

• Use Of Graphic Design To Create A Plant Identifying App
• Flat Logo Designs V/S Gradient Logo Designs. A Case Study On The Automobile Industry
• Use Of Computer Graphics And Advertisement To Change Consumer Behavior
• Effect Of Contrast Colors To Drive Consumer Buying Behavior
• Passion Project: Following Your Dream
• How Businesses Use Brochures To Attract Sales
• Use Of Print Media And Advertisements To Change Consumer Buying Behavior
• Logos. Essential For A Business Image
• How Clothing Brands Use Graphic Design To Create Designs
• 20th Century Evolution Of Computer Graphics
• A Case Study On Computer Graphic Designers
• Impact Of Using Filters In Videos To Gain Customer Attention And Sales
• Use Of Psychological Triggers In Graphic Design To Create Customer Loyalty
• Effect Of Limited Financial Plan On Graphics
• Commercial Distinctiveness And Graphic Design
• A Case Study On The Top Marketing Agencies Of The Country
• A Case Study On Apple. How It Molds Consumer Buying Behavior
• How Does The Consumer Remember Your Brand? A Case Study On Louis Vuitton
• Impact Of Design To Create Sales For E-Commerce Stores

Is Your Graphic Design Thesis Due Soon?

When you start your thesis, you may encounter various graphic design issues, but keep your eyes on the master’s degree and keep working hard. You can also hire low-cost native writers for your project plan by googling “Do my research for graphic design thesis.” These professionals will provide complete research for your thesis topic, as well as high-quality content, and will also proofread your thesis when you are done. Moreover, writing professionals offer reliable services, so you don’t have to worry that your thesis idea will get stolen or hacked.

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Home > Industrial Design > Industrial Design Masters Theses

Industrial Design Masters Theses

The Master of Industrial Design program explores design as a vehicle for addressing social, cultural, environmental and other concerns, recognizing that design is not simply a professional service, but rather a way of connecting individual interests and values with a social framework. Students with undergraduate degrees in other fields or with limited design experience are invited to enter the program during Wintersession as a means of preparing to begin the two-year master’s program the following fall.

ID covers a broad range of fields, from product and furniture explorations to design for aerospace and medical applications. Graduate students work independently under the guidance of a faculty advisor and thesis committee, and present their final work verbally, visually and in writing. They also participate in the RISD Graduate Thesis Exhibition , a large-scale public show held annually.

“Graduate candidates in ID don’t necessarily need an undergraduate degree in the field, but they do need strong visual communication skills. For those without an ID background, learning CAD, drawing and model making can be beneficial, and taking a general product design course can provide insight into the design process. Materials-based courses in a medium such as metal, glass, textiles, ceramics or wood also provide a good basis for work in ID.” - Andy Law, Graduate Program Director

Graduate Program Director: Andy Law

These works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License .

Theses from 2023 2023

Kole , Isaiah Aladejobi

Fungi in Flux | Designing Regenerative Materials and Products with Mycelium , Arvind Bhallamudi

MILITURE , Bingdong Duan

POSTINDUSTRIAL PLAYBOOK++ , Maxwell Fertik

Freedom is a Leaky System: Living Together in the Mess , Calgary Haines-Trautman

Food, Drink, Time, New Year and Cloth , Jian Li

Making That Carries Over , Jae Nam

How to make a hybrid workplace more human? , Ray Sun

Unveiling Pain: Wearables for Objective Pain Measurement , Hanqing Tang

A PRELIMINARY GUIDE TO BUILDING NEW FUTURES IN THE NARRAGANSETT BAY , Maximilian Werner

Knot, Just Craft It , Qingxian Xu

Theses from 2022 2022

Ready made, made ready: everyday objects for everyday emergency , Dara Benno

Memories unboxed: connecting people with stories of our possessions , Megan Tzu-Hsien Chao

To be seen to be heard: embracing social anxiety in the workplace , Jingxuan Chen

Attuning the viewfinder , Ian de Silva

Disoriented: navigating the nuances of communication , Ann Dinh

Sobremesa , Charlie Herbozo-Vidal

Vulva gazing: power and the gendered body , Aaliya Jamal Zaidi

A fleeting landscape: resurrecting the edges of the estuary , Vrinda Mathur

Material Illumination , Lauren Mikaela Glenn

Extended reality interface , Neil Nelson

Breaking | Grounding | Growing: Expanding the Rhode Island gardening reentry programs as a pathway towards stability , Juliana Soltys

We got this... , Julian Wellisz

Sub Sequence : building a participatory infrastructure , Aaron Wright

Theses from 2021 2021

Designing for space; exploring ways of simulating nature and everyday activities in zero-g environment , Sayit Alisan

Psychological well-being through music listening , Majed BouGhanem

Shoes for advanced urban surfaces , Karan Buasakdi

After plastic waste : plastic bottle knitting machine - design for value of recycling plastic , Du Cheng

Katti-Batti : a digital tool for young adolescents to transgress the limitations of gender socialization through empathy & friendship , Chetan Dusane

Beyond conscious: the knowing of self-owned anxiety , WenYu Du

Rebuilt the fading vicinity , Yifan Du

The portal : a tool for uncertain times , Sophie Engel

Inter - : design for fostering action-oriented awareness towards sustainable transition , Elena Danlei Huang

Move in the internet , Jennifer Ziyuan Huang

Living objects , Katie Tzu Hua Huang

The art of microbe maintenance: value and applications in design , Yujin Hwang

Distilling the Narragansett Bay , Parker Ives

Kitsch study and Chinese kitsch market , Jiaqi Ellie Liu

Beacon Public Library: expanding radical civic care for an uncertain future , Katrina Machado

Ars Technica , Bayan Mashrequi

Inside the bubble 2.0 , Sunny Yuqing Ma

Wild things: outdoor toys for nature play , John Mawhorter

Indefinite origin: decentralizing knowledge , Tong-June Moon

No winners: transgender athletes in cycling , Max Pratt

Zoomorphic extended body , Nicholas Tamas

Uncertainty wanted: deconstructing gender gap in parenting mentality , Zimeng Xiang

A family game: tell the stories that shape us , Zhuoyan Xie

Theses from 2020 2020

Sol , John Beck

Repairer's recipe : volume 0 , Joyce Chang

Experience the world: How the ever-present accessibility of hands-on opportunities & play enhance logistical learning , Mary E. Chavez

Ocean state food stories , Charlotte Clement

Beautiful dirt : exploring the American taboo of death through the things we leave behind , Jake Dangstorp

Designed body , Jingwei Deng

Acute , Alex D'Haeseleer

Mimesis : human-centered digital profiling visual identity , Yangyang Ding

Voran Test Lab : An exploration of teaching collaborative problem solving and critical thinking through emergent gameplay , Taber Gifford

inVisible: a guide to understanding & designing for introverts , Ashesh Gohil

Through the labyrinth , Rebeca Gonzalez Morales

+ one : a new companionship , Vivien Mengjiao Han

Lift a life , Vidur Madhav

Night Knights: reminding children that their nighttime fear isn't something they have to face alone , Ji Hyung Moon

Fifty fifty: redefining domesticity , Ziying Qiao

The objects around us. , Rohit Sen

Accessibility to possibilities : discover the unknown unknown worlds , Yutong Shen

Totem: An embodiment of human character and personality in footwear design , Sushant Shivaram

Togather: To gather together , Kyungah Sohn

Surviving in a gregarious world , Shiyang Yao

Ether: a social design , Zihan Zhou

Theses from 2019 2019

Biomatters : future of biology as material source , Tareq Alzawawi

Mindful interactions , Shreyans Bhandari

Unimproved : land observation at the edge of progress , Adam Somers Bowen

Bitter son , Adam Chuong

Pekka : social software to improve in-game dynamics , Yu Mo

Theses from 2018 2018

Autonomous vehicle futures : designing experiences that enable trust and adoption , Jeremy Bass

Foodways for earthlings : recipes and tools for eating in extreme environments , Maggie Coblentz

Curious things , Allison Davis

Idiosyncratic uniform , Erica Efstratoudakis

Really clean no problems at all , Christina Johnston

Letsqube , Biniam Assegid Kebede

For a better normal : fostering the informal sector in post-hurricane Puerto Rico, as a pathway for economic stabilization , Jonathan W. Melendez Davidson

Harmless Studio , David Thomas Pittman

Dispatches from planet nowhere , Aaron Field Simmons

Radically normal : the menstruation issue , Kathryn Smiley

Talking to computers , Jen Spatz

A place for plastics : bioplastics, bacteria and our thoughtless acts , Megan Valanidas

Memory.zip , Yu-Hsing Wu

Theses from 2017 2017

Communicatronics , Adi Azulay

Balance speaker : efficient work and break , Jin Cao

Talistones : a handful of help for homecoming soldiers , Atulya Changanty

Magkasama , Christina Chen

Retooling : experiments in digital apprenticeship , Ryan Ferguson

Body (less) fitness , Dan Gioia

Love view , Wudi Hong

Connections : a new model to customizing everything , Shao-Hsuan Hou

Motivated motivation : a consulting tool to find new platforms for business , Xiaoxio Jin

Embracing traditional Chinese culture through design , Jiaxuan Li

P-Lax : toys for adults, to play & relax , Zhizi Liu

Empowerment of people of all abilities , Kasia Matlak

Jettison all stories : experimenting with our relationship to the physical , Alyssa R. Mayo

Transitions : designing acceptance in a world of change , Hanna McLaughlin

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20 Thesis topics related to Residential Design

A residence is one of the first projects any architecture student is asked to design as part of the curriculum , as a residence is one of the first examples of architecture we all see and so many of us are fortunate to live in. Residential projects may seem very easy to comprehend and design, but the various types of residences that are in use today and the different user groups they are targeted towards make it a vast topic, something that requires huge amounts of research to design. 

Choosing a residential project as a thesis topic in the final year of B.Arch. would be like coming full circle – applying all the knowledge you have gained in the last five years on the very first project typology you were taught to design.

So, here are 20 thesis topics related to residential typology that any architecture student can take up.

1. Mixed-Use Buildings | Residential Design

With the global pandemic forcing people to stay confined in their houses, the development of mixed-use buildings with residential, commercial and office spaces all in one place will help with similar circumstances in the future. A student would need to do extensive research on how to properly combine all different places and the purposes they serve to create a building that fulfils functionality and is also aesthetically pleasing. 

Mixed-use buildings as a thesis topic will help a student when they start working because of its huge potential as a future trend in architecture.

2. Vertical Housing

With the increasing population and declining availability of open land, vertical housing is one of the best solutions available to tackle the requirements of the current and future generations. Vertical housing is residential buildings where architects arrange spaces vertically instead of horizontally, to create more units in a smaller footprint. 

These buildings also contain community areas and green spaces interspersed with the residential units to encourage people to be more social and not stay confined in their high-rise apartments .  

Using this as a thesis topic will be extremely beneficial as there are high chances of designing similar projects when students start professionally practising after getting their degrees.

3. Community living | Residential Design

One of the first markers of human beings settling down and becoming civilized is when they started living in communities with individual houses and common spaces for gathering. Since then, human beings have always preferred to live in a society. 

Be it apartment complexes with high-rise buildings , or housing estates with horizontal, community living in urban areas are a topic that can be taken up as a thesis project related to residential use. Community living will help one understand how to design spaces that can be used by different people to live together in harmony.

4. Row Houses

Row houses are defined as a series of houses connected through common sidewalls. They are a great way to build individual houses in smaller areas and with lesser materials, making them cheaper. 

Row houses might already be in use in the  USA and European countries , but they have huge potential in third-world countries and in places like India where there is a space crunch issue, making them a good thesis topic under the residential typology.

5. Tiny Houses | Residential Design

These are houses that have a total area of less than 400 ft 2 or 37 m 2 and are a good alternative to traditional houses when the available open land is smaller than average. Tiny houses have a wide variety of design considerations and this leads to innovative spaces that are multifunctional and furniture that is multi-purpose. 

Compacting a whole house in an area that is less than 400 ft 2 is a challenge that will help thesis students in designing residential areas in the future, as the availability of free land is reducing every day.

6. Shipping Container Homes

20 ft or 40 ft steel containers that have been used to carry different types of goods in ships can be used as a readymade or prefabricated skeleton to build a house. These homes are a good way to re-purpose shipping containers that have been abandoned or thrown away and are easier and faster to build as the exterior structure is already available. 

The containers can be stacked vertically or horizontally to create everything from tiny houses to mansions. Shipping container homes are an intriguing and unique residential thesis topic for students.

Yurts are portable houses consisting of a latticework of wood or bamboo covered by a round tent and have been the traditional houses for many tribes in central Asia, especially in Mongolia. Yurts are a unique aspect of vernacular architecture that can be adapted in different climates around the world with the use of more modern materials like steel for the latticework and insulating fabrics for the tent. 

Yurts as a residential thesis topic will give students a different look in a sustainable and vernacular approach to designing. 

8. Earthships | Residential Design

Pioneered by architect Michael Reynolds, Earthships are a type of passive solar earth shelter that is built with both natural and up-cycled materials. These residential units are structures built on the principle that the six human needs of energy, garbage management, sewage treatment, shelter, clean water and food can be met through environmentally sustainable building design. 

Earthships are intended to be simple, “off-the-grid” homes with minimal dependence on fossil fuels and public utilities and can be constructed by people with little building knowledge. The scope of Earthships as self-sustainable and ecological single-family residences is huge and something that can be taken up by architecture students for their final year thesis.

9. Cob Houses

These are houses built of clay, sand and straw that are recyclable and non-polluting when demolished. Cob houses are inexpensive, energy-efficient houses suitable for hot climates that are also extremely durable and earthquake-resistant. 

Even though these types of houses have traditionally been user-built, an architect’s perspective will help in enhancing its ecological and sustainable features and lead to better planning and usability of spaces. Cob houses should be explored as a thesis topic in the residential typology.

10. Cave houses | Residential Design

Caves served as the very first human dwellings – they served as a shelter against natural calamities and wild animals. In recent years, cave dwellings have made a comeback, in the form of carving contemporary houses inside existing caves. These houses contain contemporary elements like doors and windows, modern electrical and bathroom fittings and also connections to public utilities and “off-the-grid” options for the same. 

Designing cave houses is a challenge because one has to carve out different rooms in accordance with the inside of the cave and major changes cannot be done to the structure of the cave. Cave houses provide the option to utilize existing natural shelter formations instead of disrupting green areas, and hence are a good residential topic for the thesis as they are becoming more popular.

Ipshita Seth has been in love with words for as long she can remember and now that she's studying Architecture, she's found a new love for writing about designing spaces, history of buildings, construction technologies and everything else that comes with them. She has joined RTF to give words to her dreams.

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2021 Virtual Thesis Exhibition

Thesis projects at the Harvard Graduate School Design are at once summits and foundations. Incorporating focused research and dialogue, they spark new perspectives—serving as springboards for where design will go next. This year’s remarkable projects offer insight into the diversity and depth of preoccupations that animate the class of 2021 and future generations of designers. Department of Architecture thesis director Eric Höweler observes that the thesis projects, taken together, serve as “a mapping of the contemporary moment.”

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• ALive! features

The Most Viewed B.Arch thesis projects in 2018

• December 28, 2018

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On many counts, the year 2018 has been incredible for us at ALive!. First, we reached a new milestone of 350,000 views from nearly 200,000 visitors.

Second, in addition to architectural and interior design projects, we also published many op-eds, ideas, thesis projects and research. We started publishing Thesis projects last year and this year too we were overwhelmed with the number of requests to publish thesis projects from architecture students across India and even Bangladesh. B.Arch Thesis projects have been a great source of inspiration for many students and teachers. We thank everyone who submitted their projects for publication and also those who shared them on Social Media, to ensure that the information reaches the maximum people. If you wish to submit your thesis, or an architectural project, click on the link below.

Among all the B.Arch thesis projects published in 2018, we are happy to share the list of five most viewed thesis projects below.

5. Urban Food Hub, INA At New Delhi by Vipanchi Handa, SCHOOL OF PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE, DELHI

The Thesis was guided by DR. AMIT HAJELA , AR. DEEPAK TANEJA

4. Revitilization of Le Corbusier’s Legacy: Sanskar Kendra, by Rahul Jadon, Faculty of Architecture, Dr. APJ AKTU, Lucknow

Guides: Prof. Mohd. Sabahat

3. Memorial for the rebels of land, at Pahartali, Chittagong – Md. Hansat, Bangladesh University

Guides and Advisors: Ar. Kazi Tarannum Hossain, Ar. Sefat Sultana, Ar. Mithun Chandra Nath., Ar. Iqbal Habib,, Ar. Bikash Saud Ansary, Ar. Qazi M. Arif, Ar. N R Khan

2. JASHN-e-PUNJAB By Harkunwar Singh Kanwal, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi

Thesis Guide: Ar. Manish Gulati and Ar. Sambuddha Sen

1. Centre for Art and Architecture: Role of an Urban Catalyst, New Delhi, by Mohammad Suhail

Guides: Ar. Ritu Gulati, Ar. Shikhar Singh

We congratulate everyone who shared their thesis projects with us, and hope they keep sharing more work in the future too. Wishing everyone an eventful and joyous 2019.

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Beyond Design: Challenges and Opportunities in the Indian Architectural Profession

Vinod Gupta, of Opus Indigo Studio reflects on the evolution and challenges of the Indian architectural profession, emphasizing the need for architects to reclaim responsibilities beyond design to revitalize the industry’s trajectory.

An Architect Eats Samosa

ArchitectureLive! continues with Alimentative Architecture – The fifth in a series of articles by Architect-Poet-Calligrapher H Masud Taj interfacing architecture with food via geometry.

The Stoic Wall Residence, Kerala, by LIJO.RENY.architects

Immersed within the captivating embrace of a hot and humid tropical climate, ‘The Stoic Wall Residence’ harmoniously combines indoor and outdoor living. Situated in Kadirur, Kerala, amidst its scorching heat, incessant monsoon rains, and lush vegetation, this home exemplifies the art of harmonizing with nature.

BEHIND the SCENES, Kerala, by LIJO.RENY.architects

The pavilion, named ‘BEHIND the SCENES’, for the celebrated ITFOK (International Theatre Festival of Kerala), was primarily designed to showcase the illustrious retrospective work by the famed scenic background artist ‘Artist Sujathan’.

Apdu Gaam nu Ghar, Vadodara, by Doro

Doro (a young architectural firm from India) renovate a 150-year-old house in Vemar, Vadodara, Gujarat, to transform it into a warm retreat for its owners, who are based overseas.

Integrated Production Facility for Organic India, Lucknow, by Studio Lotus

The Integrated Production Facility for Organic India in Lucknow is a LEED Platinum-rated development designed for production, processing, and administrative functions for the holistic wellness brand. The design scheme incorporates local influences to create a sustainable environment, featuring a sprawling campus.

Botton-Champalimaud Pancreatic Cancer Centre, Lisbon, by Sachin Agshikar, HDR, and Joao Nuno Laranjo

The Champalimaud Foundation expanded its Cancer Research Centre in Lisbon into a pancreatic cancer hospital, 14 years post-construction by architect Charles Correa. Sachin Agshikar, Correa’s associate, led design alongside HDR and local architect Joao Nuno Laranjo.

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