Anirban Adhya
aanirban@umich.edu
Specialization: Design Studies
Advisor: Prof. Linda Groat

Dissertation Title: "Exploring Public Realm – understanding multiple ways of publicness in urban America: Learning from the College Towns".

Dissertation Committee: Chair, Linda Groat, Cognate, Larissa Larsen, members, Jean Wineman, Lynda Schneekloth

Research Interest:
Environment and Behavior, Urban Design, Placemaking, Cultural Anthropology

Omar Baghdady
obaghdad@umich.edu
Specialization: History & Theory
Advisor: Prof. Will Glover

Research Interest:
My main interest lies in the study of modern Egyptian history, its nature, idiosyncrasies and the resulting architecture. More specifically, my work examines modernity in the Egyptian domestic realm in an attempt to understand its distinct nature and its importance in the discourse of modernity.

Recent work:
Project participant: "Building Islam in Detroit: an interdisciplinary study of Muslim institutions and collective spaces," UM, Rackham Graduate School

Website:
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/omarbaghdadi

Aysu Berk
aysuberk@umich.edu
Specialization: Structures and Materials in Building Technology
Advisor: Prof. Harry Giles

Research Interest:
Organic forms, generation of structural forms, material and structural integration

Jennifer Chamberlin
jcham@umich.edu
Specialization: Design Studies

Dissertation Title: "The Cultural Reproduction of Architecture: Understanding the Socialization Process in Architectural Education".

Dissertation Committee: Linda Groat (chair), Kelly Askew (Cognate, Anthropology), Malcolm McCullough (Architecture), David Schoem (Sociology)

Research Interest:
This dissertation questions the extent to which a socialization process of a student into the subculture of architecture during formal education exists.  The work of French sociologist and anthropologist, Pierre Bourdieu, who has written extensively on the subject of socialization in education, serves as a theoretical framework for this research.  For this research, architectural education is conceptualized as a mode of cultural reproduction for the discipline.  This research addresses the larger issue of homogeneity in race and socioeconomic status that is prevalent in architectural education as well as the profession, and will discuss the factors that are potentially contributing to and reproducing such homogeneity.

Recent Work:
Conference paper, "The Socialization Process in Architectural Education," Association for the Study of Higher Education, Anaheim, CA, Nov 2006

Didem Ekici
dekici@umich.edu
Specialization: History & Theory
Advisor: Profs. Lydia Soo & Andrew Herscher

Dissertation Title: "Creating the “New Man”: The Modern Architecture and Life Reform Movement in Hellerau Garden City ".

Dissertation Committee: Co-Chairs, Lydia Soo, Andrew Herscher; member, Claire Zimmerman; Cognate, Scott Spector.

Research Interest:
My dissertation focuses on the idea of health and growing body consciousness in Life Reform Movement and its impact on modern architecture in fin-de-siècle Germany. I analyze how modern architecture in Hellerau, first garden city of Germany, served to the ideal of creating the “new man” and community as an intermediate between the individual and the collective body.

Recent work:
Article: The Surfaces of Memory in Berlin: Rebuilding the Schloß” Journal of Architectural Education 61:2, November 2007, 25-34

Conference paper: “From the Light-and-Air Hut to the Modern House: The Impact of Life Reform upon German Architectural Discourse,” Society of Architectural Historians Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, April 2007

Session moderator: "The Monument Today," Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture annual meeting, March 2007

K. Fusun Erkul
kerkul@umich.edu
Specialization: Design Studies
Advisor: Prof. Linda Groat

Dissertation Title: "A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Suburban Life".

Dissertation Committee: Linda Groat (chair), Scott Campbell (cognate), Jean Wineman, Robert Fishman (members)

Research Interest:
Place theory, urban form, theories and methodologies of spatial analysis, space syntax, human behavior and patterns of space use.

Amirhossein Ghoreishi
ghoreish@umich.edu
Specialization: Building Technology
Advisor: Prof. Mojtaba Navvab

Research Interest:
Integration of mechanical and natural ventilation, passive ventilation systems, thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ)  

Matthew Heins
mheins@umich.edu
Specialization: History & Theory
Advisor: Prof. Robert Fishman

Research Interest:
I am interested in issues related to urban design, infrastructure and spatial standardization in the 20th Century. I am curious about the ways in which the built environment has become increasingly standardized and modernized, at both the national and global scale. My dissertation will probably focus on the particular case of the shipping container, the giant steel box, commonly seen on ships, trucks and trains, that was invented in the U.S. during the 1950s and whose use has spread rapidly around the world.

Deirdre Hennebury
Deirdre@umich.edu
Specialization: History & Theory
Advisor: Prof. Robert Fishman

Research Interest:
My research looks at the role of architecture in urban reimaging efforts. It focuses on the use of cultural institutions, such as museums and libraries, to create signature landmarks that act as catalysts for economic growth and social improvement. During the last century, the responsibilities of museums have expanded to include new social and educational roles, such as social inclusion, place marketing and identity building, which have spawned new mission mandates and funding needs. How these changes are manifested in the design and operation of museums is important to cultural historians interested in the intersection of art and society, and to those involved in museum design.

Recent Work:
Assistant Curator: Building Connections: Architectural Dialogues with the Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum, exhibit at Cranbrook Art Museum, June 4–September 25, 2005

Conference Paper: "An Exploration of the Spatial and Ideological Character of the Art Museum: A Comparative Study of the Tate Britain and the Tate Modern," Michigan Museum Association, Detroit/Bloomfield Hills/Dearborn, October 2005

Yongha Hwang
yonghah@umich.edu
Specialization: Design Studies
Advisor: Prof. Jean Wineman

Research Interest:
spatial configuration as a mechanism for regulation of information flow / the changes of work environment layout after Fordism

Sung Kwon Jung
jskstrm@umich.edu
Specialization: Environmental Technology
Advisor: Prof. Jong-Jin Kim

Research Interest:
Optimization methods for building environmental control systems

Ipek Kaynar
ikaynar@umich.edu
Specialization: Design Studies
Advisor: Prof. Jean Wineman

Dissertation Title:"Spatial Layout Properties and the Museum Visit Experience: Exhibition Narratives and Visitors' Patterns in Three Art Museums: YCBA, MoMA and HMA".

Dissertation Committee: Jean Wineman & Sophia Psarra (co-chairs), Raymond Silverman (cognate), Linda Groat (member)

Research Interest:
Movement patterns and visibility-preference relation in buildings, museum buildings, spatial cognition and route-choosing, design optimization.

Kyoung-Hee Kim
kyoungk@umich.edu
Specialization: Structures and Materials in Building Technology
Advisor: Prof. Harry Giles

Research Interest:
thin shell structures using composite panel systems; transparent composite panels for wall and roof systems; sustainable building materials; fabric structures

Youngchul Kim
zeroiron@umich.edu
Specialization: Design Studies
Advisor: Prof. Fernando Lara

Research Interest:
My research will be focused on the factors influencing architecture in a "block" scale. Block can be defined as "an expression of the surroundings which affects the life of residents," as explained i the theory of neighborhood. Notwithstanding the unique identities of the individual structures, structures in a block as a whole should appear as a coexisting functional formation in the block, and ultimately, in the city. Separation between the individual structure and the city is quickly losing its meaning, and the architectural concerns are not to be limited to the immediate surroundings. Accordingly, as my research progresses, I would like to explore the role of architecture in a human being's daily challenges to continuously manage life in a city, by expanding the architectural concepts of individual structures, such as space, function and time, to the complexities of the city and architecture theory, such as place, event and sustainability.

Rachna Lal
rlal@umich.edu
Specialization: Design Studies
Advisor: Prof. Linda Groat

Research Interest:
Globalization has transformed the urban face of the world, more so in developing nations. My interests revolve around this changing urban environment in India.
Malls, Multiplexes and Gated Communities have all become the hallmark of modernization in the new suburbs of the country. I am interested in looking at these urban suburban developments, and exploring the social, cultural, economic and political events that conflated together and manifested themselves in these forms.

Recent Work:
Conference paper: "The Customer is Queen": Shopping Malls and the Construction of Women as Consumer Citizens in India" 23rd Annual South Asia Conference at the University of California, Berkeley, February 2008

Kristina Luce
kluce@umich.edu
Specialization: History & Theory
Advisor: Prof. Malcolm McCullough

Dissertation Title: "Revolutions in Parallel: The Rise and Fall of Drawing within Architectural Design".

Dissertation Committee: Co-Chairs, Malcolm McCullough & Daniel Herwitz, Cognate, Celeste Brusati, member Lydia Soo

Research Interest:
My work reinterprets architectural history by focusing on the medium through which designers think, their conceptual medium, as an object of historical inquiry. I maintain that this medium both reflects and circumscribes our very definitions of architecture. By exploring how specific forms of drawing have changed our understanding of both the processes and purposes of architectural design, and how computation is continuing the reformation of these concepts, my work speaks both internally to the discipline of architecture and outwardly to other scholarly fields. I attempt to demonstrate that designerly concerns which have typified architecture's past histories are relevant to the newer narratives which emphasize the social histories of the built environment. These two forms of sense-making are not oppositional but intertwined, architecture deriving its techniques and aesthetics from the technologies and cultural forces from which it springs.  

Recent work:
Publication: “The Supremacy of Form-Scribing: The Legacy of Axon’s Abstraction in Eisenman’s House VI and Beyond.” In Insights: A Journal of the Getty Research Institute. (Forthcoming)

Publication: “Raphael and the Pantheon’s Interior: A Pivotal Moment in Architectural Representation.” In Nexus VII: Architecture and Mathematics, edited by Kim Williams, Turin: Kim Williams Books, 2008. (Conference paper, Nexus VII, San Diego, California, June 23-25, 2008)

On line: With Gregory Smith, “Kristina Luce Interview.” Serial Consign. January 21, 2008 http://serialconsign.com/node/177

Public Presentation: Drawing Out the Nineteenth Century in Peter Eisenman’s Frank House.” The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, California, June 2, 2008.

Conference Paper: "Picturing Space: Vermeer's Multiple Horizons," 14th Annual Conference of The Group for Early Modern Cultural Studies, Chicago, Illinois, 2007

http://sitemaker.umich.edu/lucepersonal/home

Jin Woo Moon
jwmoon@umich.edu
Specialization: Environmental Technology
Advisor: Prof. Jong-Jin Kim

Dissertation Title: "Ann-based Model-Free Thermal Control in Residential Buildings".

Dissertation Committee: Chair, Jong-Jin Kim, Cognate, Terry Weymouth, members, Dawn Tilbury, Fernando Lara

Research Interest:
Building Environmental control system, Building Automation, DDC (Direct Digital Control) Methods, Indoor Air Quality, Thermal Quality

Piyarat N. Mullard
pnmullard@gmail.com
Specialization: Design Studies
Advisor: Prof. Linda Groat

Dissertation Title: "Domestic Space and the Role of Women in Thai Society: A Cultural Interpretation of the Feminine Realm".

Dissertation Committee: Chair, Linda Groat, Cognate, Gayl D. Ness, members, Gavin Shatkin, Fernando Lara

Suma Pandhi
skinhal@umich.edu
Specialization: Design Studies
Advisor: Prof. Linda Groat

Research Interest:
As a city shaped by the industrial revolution, the destruction of 1923 Kanto Earthquake, the destruction of 1945 World War II air raids, the development of 1964 Olympics, and the Bubble Economy, Tokyo continues to rebuild and redefine itself. As Japan’s capital, it has become an axis for culture, economy, and design. In its vast growth and development, it is home to over 8 million people, who, as in most cities, live mainly in apartments, with roots not far from the traditional Japanese home.
My work examines the Japanese apartment as an extension and blurring of boundaries between public and private space in Tokyo and how the changing condition of the ground plane in Japanese design from private to public space poses an idea of placelessness in a city context. Specifically, I will study Tokyo since its mass transit beginnings and metabolist roots in the 20th century through the lens of the Japanese apartment design and its relationship city as impacted by key designers such as Toyo Ito, Riken Yamamoto, CAt, Sou Fujimoto, and others. As urban development continues, this research will become critical in addressing a dialogue between city, architecture, and people

Kush Patel
kshpatel@umich.edu
Specialization: Design Studies
Advisor: Prof. Sophia Psarra

Research Interest:
I am interested in investigating the spatial paradigm in contemporary spatial and social theories. The underlying premise is to position an argument for the meaning and role of space in both theory and practice; which at the level of research strategy would entail forming a conceptual framework by reviewing the 20th century problematization of both space and society.

Website:
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/kush.patel

Stephanie Pilat
spilat@umich.edu
Specialization: History & Theory
Advisor: Prof. Lydia Soo

Dissertation Title: "Re-imagining Italy: The Ina-Casa Neighborhoods of the Postwar Era".

Dissertation Committee: Chair, Lydia Soo, Cognate, Dario Gaggio, members Robert Fishman, Mia Fuller


Research Interest:
My work focuses on the architecture and politics of modern Italy. It examines how the nation imagined itself through architecture under Fascism and how it then re-made itself through architecture after the fall of the Fascist Regime.

Recent work:
Conference paper: "La Parola al Piccone: Demolition and Reconstruction at the Roman Fora and the Piazzale Augusto Imperatore," Society of Architectural Historians Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC, 2005

Ashraf Ragheb
aragheb@umich.edu
Specialization: Environmental Technology
Advisor: Prof. Jong-Jin Kim

Dissertation Title: "A Method towards Developing an Environment Profile for Buildings Using Life Cycle Analysis".

Dissertation Committee: Chair, Jong-Jin Kim, Cognate, Khalil Mancy, members Jim Turner, Linda Groat

Research Interest:
building life cycle energy use, life cycle assessment.

Nicholas Senske
nsenske@umich.edu
Specialization: Design Studies
Advisor: Prof. Malcolm McCullough

Research Interest:
My research is concerned with the development of procedural literacy in architecture students.
Ostensibly, procedural literacy is the ability to read and write processes, such as those found in
computer programs. Programming is the most effective means of defining complex relationships and
customizing software, but, more importantly, learning to program can help users form the mental
models needed to make sense of procedural systems. Therefore, procedural literacy is not only a set of
skills, but the outlook one needs to effectively design and think within the medium of computation. This
outlook will be critical for architects as the dominant model of design software shifts from direct
manipulation (e.g. drawing, modeling) into procedurally‐derived forms of knowledge representation
(parametrics, BIM, simulation, etc.).

Recent work:
Conference Paper: Wineman, J., Turner, J., Psarra, S., Jung, S. K. and Senske, N., 2007, Syntax2D: an open
source software platform for space syntax analysis. In Turner, A. (Ed.) New Developments in Space Syntax
Software, Istanbul Technical University pp. 23–26

Design Competition: WorkPlay, University of Michigan, 2008, Honorable Mention

Romil Sheth
romils@umich.edu
Specialization: History & Theory, Design Studies
Advisor: Prof. Will Glover, Prof. Fernando Lara

Research Interest:
My research involves the nature of contemporary urbanism in the '"ative town" of Mumbai and its evolution with an emphasis on the development of hybrid urban typologies, their interaction and articulation with the public realm, examining the nature of the post-colonial urban environment, and evolving strategies for the development of contemporary urbanism. The study focuses on the enclaves of Bhuleshwar and Kalbadevi, using archival and contemporary photographs, oral histories, extensive measure drawings and spatial analysis as a means of understanding the phenomenon and processes at work.

Recent work:
Co-author with Anjula Bedi, "Walking in the Native Town of Mumbai", Mumbai, Eminence Publications, forthcoming.

Laura Smith
laurbria@umich.edu
Specialization: Design Studies

Research Interest: Place Theory; Environmental Education; Influence of built environment on environmental stewardship; Dynamics such as ethnicity, class and gender within the sustainability movement.

Michael Trautman
charette@umich.edu
Specialization: Environmental Behavior
Advisor: Prof. Lee Pastalan

Research Interest:
Designing for special populations and special care facilities; structure of visual images; memory processes for visual images: encoding visual images into memory; intuitive memory and visual design; explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious) image recognition; implicit memory applications for design in populations with cognitive impairment; subconscious impact of visual design.

Sentagi Utami
sentagi@umich.edu
Specialization: Building Technology
Advisor: Prof. Moji Navvab

Research Interest:
Building physics, analyzing and treating physical phonemenon occuring in buildings due to
energy of light, acoustic, and thermal.

Diaan Van der Westhuizen
dlvander@umich.edu
Specialization: Design Studies
Advisor: Prof. Linda Groat

Research Interest:
My dissertation applies place theory to investigate the impact of physical environmental factors on people’s activity patterns in Detroit minority communities. For this research, the notion of place conceptualizes not only how the built environment can objectively be measured, but also how residents perceive their neighborhoods to be accessible places for walking and exercise.  Research shows, neighborhood destinations embedded within the urban form of the neighborhood are even more important in minority communities, where people tend to walk more for utilitarian purposes.  Researchers working on built environment and physical activity often apply complicated measurement making results hard to interpret and apply to neighborhood design and policy.  My approach takes issue with this by applying typomorphological methods to statistical, narrative and visual descriptions.

Keywords: place theory; environment behavior; built environment; cognitions and perceptions; urban design; land-use; destinations; space syntax; walking; physical activity.

Conference presentations:
Wineman, Jean D., Marans, Robert W., Schulz, Amy J., van der Westhuizen, Diaan L., Grant-Pierson, Sonya, Max, Paul “Toward an Examination of Neighborhood Effects on Health-Related Outcomes: A Report on the Development and Use of a Neighborhood Typology in Detroit “
2008 EDRA 39 Veracruz, Mexico.

Van der Westhuizen, Diaan L.,  Wineman, Jean D. 
“Lean-Green in Motown Project: Streets and Observed Use.” 2007 EDRA 38 Sacramento, CA.

Van der Westhuizen, Diaan L., and Marans, Robert W.
“Validating Behavioral Observations with Survey Data: Examples from a Pilot Study of the Behavioral Aspects of Energy Conservation & Sustainability at the University of Michigan” 2007 EDRA 38 Sacramento, CA

Demir, Evrim, Moore, Robin, Van der Westhuizen, Diaan.
“Quality of Life and Active Living. A Study of Spatial Relationships that Afford Physical Activity and Social Interaction in Southern Village, North Carolina Southern Village”, at the 2005 EDRA 36 Vancouver, BC.

Demir, Evrim, Moore, Robin, Van der Westhuizen, Diaan.
“Where and Why people walk in Neo-Traditional Neighborhoods” 2004 EDRA 35 Albuquerque, NM.

Robert Walsh
rmwarch@umich.edu
Specialization: Design Studies
Advisor: Prof. Fernando Lara

Research Interest:
As a licensed architect with experience teaching design, I am interested in the connection between design process and design outcome, especially as it relates to the ability of architects to produce poetic value in the built environment. The relationship between designing and making is becoming reconnected in new ways through digital technologies, while approaches to building that integrate design, engineering and construction are also becoming more common. I am interested in harnessing and transforming some of these emerging trends in ways which immerse the architect more directly in the process of making, incorporating experiential design methods implemented concurrently with construction processes. Some of these concerns have already been explored in freestanding houses and larger shed structures, but are more challenging to implement at a larger scale. The application towards which my research is oriented is mid-rise and high-rise urban dwellings, especially those on smaller lots inserted into an existing urban fabric. What distinguishes my research from research in engineering or construction management is the emphasis on poetic value, especially poetic value as a central contribution of the architect that can intensify and develop more fully when the architect is an active participant throughout all stages of a project. In this sense my work relates back to certain approaches that were more common in pre-industrial architecture, while leveraging the advantages in performance that modern materials and methods make available today.

LaDale Winling
lwinling@umich.edu
Specialization: History & Theory
Advisor: Prof. Robert Fishman

Dissertation Title: “Post-Industrial Plans: Universities, Cities, and Campus Development 1915-1975”

Dissertation Committee: Robert Fishman, (chair) Matthew Lassiter, (cognate), Claire Zimmerman, (member), Lan Deng (member)

Research Interest:
My research involves the interaction between universities and cities in urban history, viewed through the lens of campus development, especially student housing. The design, planning, and economics of campus development have affected the political climate and perception of universities at the local, state, and national levels throughout the twentieth century, even as universities have become the engines of regional and national economic development.

Recent work:
Review Essay. "Railroads and Metropolitan Form". Journal of Planning History 7 (August 2008): 250-262.

Conference Paper: Society for American City and Regional Planning History,"From Protesters to Planners: Housing and the Local Engagement of Students in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1969-1975", 2007

Conference Paper: Urban History Association, "Out of the Congested Zone': Annexation in Detroit, 1915-1926", 2006

Project participant: "Memories from Hamblin," Arts of Citizenship, UM, and Heritage Battle Creek

Ying Xu
xuying@umich.edu
Specialization: Design Studies
Advisor: Prof. Linda Groat

Research Interest:
Environment and Behavior, Space Syntax methodology, Chinese student's community

Chanikarn Yimprayoon
cyarch@umich.edu
Specialization: Building Technology
Advisor: Prof. Jong-Jin Kim

Research Interest:
There are increasing of energy and environmental awareness in architectural practice all over the world. Applying LCA into architectural practice can achieve sustainable results.  LCA methodology in building design is in the early state. Unlike other products, building is unique and complex. During its extremely long lifetime, building functions and form keep changing. Environmental impact occurs mostly during its operation phase. Material selections affect indoor air quality which also effect human health. My dissertation research will focus on developing LCA tool for building industry. LCA methods need to be refined to be used properly in this section which will yield correct results for practitioners to make a design decision that will lead to the sustainable development of the built environment in the future."

MASTER OF SCIENCE STUDENTS

Joss Kiely
jossk@umich.edu
Specialization: History Theory

Research Interest:
The early 20th century brought to everyday life many technological advancements and discoveries that changed the architectural, cultural, and societal landscape forever.  These so-called vectors of modernity challenged previous assumptions and practices and spawned a myriad of new modes of thinking, of designing, and of responding to unprecedented cultural, political, and architectural events.  I am interested in the intersection between architecture and everyday life as it unfolds across Europe and spreads throughout North America in the 20th century.  Moreover, I am interested in the roles of voyeurism, the phenomenology of the film experience, and the visual address vis-à-vis the spatial experience of architecture and the display of art in the 20th century. In addition to a close read of architecture, I am interested in looking at a wide range of media including graphic design, cinema, literature, and the work of the pop artists of the 1960s.

Susan Massey
samandam@umich.edu
Specialization: History Theory

Research Interest:
Robert Campbell says, “Turgid writing is the expression of turgid thinking… If you write clearly, you've probably also thought clearly.”  Writing and speaking about architecture is very much a part of the discipline, but it is mostly reflective—descriptive or ­critical. What if the design process was redacted so that writing came first as a generative act? Words, by themselves (and their connotations and associations), may be an effective lens through which to focus the initial design concept, but how might a narrative also be generative such that design responds to it without representing it?

John Scott-Railton
railton@umich.edu
Specialization: Design Studies
Advisor: Prof. Fernando Lara