Building Within Our Bounds

Abstract

This graduate thesis explores where waste (or unutilized material) is being produced in the design methodology of a mixed-use building in Fargo, ND. There is waste produced in the construction process that is inevitable, but the majority of waste can be attributed to the decision making process of the architect's methodology for generating a building's form and space. By analyzing the different approaches taken toward design decision making, one can determine at what point(s) the designer is intentionally or unintentionally creating a building that produces unutilized material, whether through the means of drawing floor plans, assigning dimensions, modular design, creating a form then working inward on space allocation, BIM computer programs and so forth. The interpretation of this information will be gathered at multiple levels: through the deduction and analysis of a building's spaces and form, algorithmic computations that analyze and calculate a building's waste production, as well as analyzing an "economical" formation of space to the aesthetical success of space.