January 15, 2009

Beret Dickson and Farzam Yazdanseta, Fall '08 graduates of the M. Arch. program, are the winners of the Architecture Thesis Award for their projects, entitled YIELDING ARCHITECTURE: A Manifesto for [Urban + Agri] Culture, Baltimore, Maryland and Toward an Architecture of Suspension: Promiscuous Collisions of Transient Cartographies, respectively. Read on for a summary and images of their projects. 

Beret Dickson
YIELDING ARCHITECTURE:
A Manifesto for [Urban + Agri] Culture, Baltimore, Maryland

The contemporary, monoculture-based agricultural model is failing, as evidenced by worldwide food shortages, environmental degradation, and mono-diets. Grassroots efforts to reanimate neglected urban space with food production foretell an impending urban-based agricultural revolution. Recasting what and how urban farming can yield will provide a new vision for both architecture and agriculture. Additionally, 20th century economic changes have left many American cities devoid of their industrial foundations, leaving behind uninhabited and polluted sites. Baltimore Farm Works reclaims one of these post-industrial landscapes with an institutional infrastructure constructed to support the burgeoning urban agriculture revolution. CLICK HERE to read Dickson's Thesis Introduction.

Farzam Yazdanseta
Toward an Architecture of Suspension:
Promiscuous Collisions of Transient Cartographies

A growing number of experts in the United Nations diplomatic community contend that the best and the most expeditious way to end deadly violence in the world is to suspend conflict, to promote and extend a suspension of conflict, rather than seeking to overcome it. This thesis will investigate and explore the ways in which qualities of architecture can assist the suspension of deadly conflict. Can architecture help diminish the intensity of conflict by creating a place where constructive talks between conflicting parties can be best carried out? How can architecture help to achieve a greater comfort between conflicted parties when searching for a less threatening ground? Can architecture foster greater empathy between adversaries? CLICK HERE to read Yazdanseta's abstract and introduction. Also, visit his Thesis Blog to see his project video.

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