Research Areas
The PhD program of the College of Design seeks to advance knowledge in design through research and scholarship. This is built on the recognition of fertile common ground between the design disciplines and on the need for specificity and depth within them.
The PhD program addresses issues for which there is a college history of scholarship and instruction. Interdisciplinary groups of faculty advise students in coursework and research broadly related to seven research interest areas.
1. Design for Sustainability
Includes research related to balancing the relationships among the effects of population growth; the uses and re-uses of natural resources; and the sustainability of the built and natural environment.
- Address design strategies at the level of systems and their interrelationships with other systems
- Expand design thinking to consider and measure the impact of life cycle choices about communication, products, and environments
- Develop models of design response that manage complexity and anticipate the forces of change from within and outside systems
Related Doctoral dissertations:
- Daryl Carrington, Performance Evaluation of Planar Transmittance Control Components for Horizontal Apertures
- Cynthia van der Wiele, Understanding the Adoption of Sustainable Natural Resource Management Practices and the Role of Ecological Design within the Milieu of Chronic Conflict and Political Instability: A Case Study of Smaller Households in Nimba County, Liberia
- Magdy Ma, “A Semiotic Phenomenology of Visual Rhetoric: Communication and Perception of Attributes of Cultural Sustainability in the Visual Environment of Public Housing” Chair: Meredith Davis
- Jae Young Lee, “Rhetoric of Diagrams: A Study of Rhetorical Significance in the Formal Qualities of Diagrammatic Elements and Configurations in the Context of Global Warming” Chair: Meredith Davis
- Vin Lim, “Finding a New Role for Aesthetic Taste in Motivating Sustainable Disposal Behavior” Chair: Haig Khachatoorian
2. Design for Health and Well-Being
Includes research related to the growing public concern for the relationship between the built environment and human health, development and well-being.
- Identify and calibrate associations between the design features or attributes of products and environments and the health and well-being outcomes for specific populations
- Build a knowledge base about design strategies that counteract the health crisis of sedentary lifestyles
- Empower healthcare professionals to make informed decisions about health-promoting design strategies
- Inform citizens about the role of design in shaping products and environments that promote health and well-being
Related Doctoral Dissertations:
- Evrim Demir, The Influences of Site Design on Physical Activity and Social Interaction in Residential Planned Unit Developments.
- Marcelo Guimares, Users’ Assessment of Attributes for the Principles of Universal Design in Scenarios of Social Inclusion.
- Arleen Humphrey, Physical Environmental Influences on the Physical Activity Behavior of Independent Older Adults in Continuing Care Retirement Communities.
- Orcun Kepez, The Effect of Space on Health and Well-Being Environmental Assessment for Home-Like Long-Term Care Settings.
- Eyyad Ahmad Al-Khalaileh, Understanding Children’s Environments: The Effect of Outdoor Physical Environments on Children’s Activities and Quality of Life with Al-Wihdat Palestinian Refugee Camps and Environs in Amman Jordan.
- Yujia Zhai, “Urban Park Pathway Design Characteristics and Seniors’ Walking Behavior.” Chair: Perver Baran
3. Design and Technology
Includes research related to the design of high-performance and intelligent buildings with the development of advanced building (energy, control, and envelope) systems.
- Develop energy efficient (high-performance) buildings, utilizing advanced energy and environmental technologies such as energy modeling and simulation, performance M&V, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Genetic Algorithms
- Improve the quality of life of specific populations through research on technological products and environments that embed human-centered features and attributes in their design
- Identify, describe, and measure the outcomes of technology design on social and cultural practices, including work, leisure, learning, access to the privileges of democracy, and commerce
- Build knowledge about the role design plays in people’s physical, cognitive, and emotional interactions with technology and technologically mediated information and environments
Related Doctoral Dissertations:
- Yuan Fang, “Optimization of Daylighting and Energy Performance Using Parametric Design, Simulation Modeling, and Genetic Algorithms” Chair: Soolyeon Cho
- Sedighehsadat (Nasim) Mirianhosseinabadi, “A Framework for Real-Time Performance Measurement and Verification and Commissioning Using Building Automation Systems in Existing Buildings” Chair: Soolyeon Cho
- Nooshafarin Mohammadzadeh, “An Optimization Approach for Integrating Different Roof Functions with Environmental Impacts Constraints: A Hybrid Framework” Chair: Soolyeon Cho
- Jonghoon Ahn, “Development of Energy Performance Metrics for Airport Terminal Buildings using Multivariate Regression Modeling” Chair: Soolyeon Cho
- James George Grady, “A Simulation Tool Utilizing Parametric Primitives For Climate-Based Dynamic Daylighting and Energy Analysis” Chair: Wayne Place
- Ladan Ghobad, “Analysis of Daylighting Performance and Energy Savings in Roof Daylighting Systems” Chair: Wayne Place
- Daryl Carrington, “Performance Evaluation of Planar Transmittance Control Components for Horizontal Apertures” Chair: Wayne Place
- Jianxin Hu, “The Design and Assessment of Advanced Daylighting Systems Integrated with Typical Interior Layouts in Multi-Story Office Buildings” Chair: Wayne Place
- Claudia Rebola, “Visualizing Communication Structures of Nonverbal Information for Computer Environments” Chair: Haig Khachatoorian
- Dennis Puhalla, “Color as Cognitive Artifact” Chair: Meredith Davis
4. Design and the Urban Context
Includes research related to the city as a center for human affairs
- Understand how urbanism and urban design processes affect the quality of people’s lives, perceptions of the city, and patterns of behavior
- Measure how design and development decisions influence sustainability in urban contexts
- Build knowledge about the impact of design planning and policy on urban development
- Develop strategies for community participation in urban design
Related Doctoral dissertations:
- Michael Roy Lane, “Supporting Intergenerational Interaction: Affordance of Urban Public Space” Chair: Henry Sanoff
- Mohammed Zakiul Islam, “Children and Urban Neighborhoods: Relationships between Outdoor Activities of Children and Neighborhood Physical Characteristics in Dhaka, Bangladesh” Chair: Robin Moore, Co-chair: Perver Baran
- Yixiang Long, “The relationships between objective and subjective evaluations of the urban environment: Space Syntax, cognitive maps, and urban legibility” Committee Chair: Perver Baran, Co-chair: Robin Moore
- Kristin Thorleifsdottir, “Neighborhood design: an investigation of associations between suburban neighborhood morphology and children’s outdoor, out-of-school, physical activities” Chair: Robin Moore
- Adina Cox, “Shared-Use Pathways Located in Natural Settings within the Urban Context: A Multiple Case Study Exploring How Design Affects Use by Children.” Chair: Robin Moore
- Aliaa Ali Elabd, “Physical and Social Factors in Neighborhood Place Attachment: Implications for Design” Chair: Robin Abrams
- George Hallowell, “Understanding Structural Inertia: Examining Suburban Morphology and Patterns of Persistence and Change” Chair: Perver Baran
- Sudeshna Chatterjee, Children’s Friendship with Place: An Exploration of Environmental Child Friendliness of Children’s Environments in Cities
- Mine Hashas, Residents’ Attachment to New Urbanist versus Conventional Suburban Developments
- Aydin Ozdemir, An Exploratory Study of Interpersonal Distances and Perceived Spaciousness and Crowding in Four Shopping Malls across Two Cultures
- Zeynep Toker, Women’s Spatial Needs in Housing Accommodating Gender Ideologies, Use Patterns, and Privacy
- Fariha Tariq “Investigation of Incremental Housing Processes based on Microfinance: Implications for Policies and Practice ” Chair: Robin Moore
- Yujia Zhai, “Urban Park Pathway Design Characteristics and Seniors’ Walking Behavior.” Chair: Perver Baran
5. Design Methods
Includes research related to the investigation, creation, and validation of methods of processes used in the development of design concepts for communication, products and environments.
- Study observational, physical, transactional, organizational, and informational tools and improve these tools in relation to the enhancement of user participation
- Expand the role of users in the design problem solving process (moving them from consumers to co-creators)
- Develop new strategies for understanding and describing user contexts and settings (physical and virtual)
Related Doctoral Dissertations:
Umut Toker, “Space for Innovation: Effects of Space on Innovation Processes in Basic Science and Research Settings” Chair: Henry Sanoff
6. Design for Learning
Includes research related to design thinking and issues of learning and education.
- Improve the quality of teaching and learning in formal and non-formal education settings through design-based strategies
- Improve the effectiveness of learning materials and environments through research into the relationship between design and students’ learning preferences, abilities, and healthy development
- Inform citizens of the role design plays in shaping learning communities and cultures
- Empower educators and students to make informed decisions about environments, products, and communication
Related Doctoral Dissertations:
- Celen Pasalar, “The Effects of Spatial Layouts on Students’ Interactions in Middle Schools: Multiple Case Analysis“
- Eyyad Ahmad Al-Khalaileh, “Understanding Children’s Environments: The Effect of Outdoor Physical Environments on Children’s Activities and Quality of Life with Al-Wihdat Palestinian Refugee Camps and Environs in Amman Jordan“
- Ryan Anthony Hargrove, “Creating Creativity in the Design Studio: Assessing the impact of metacognitive skill development on creative abilities” Chair: Art Rice
- Thomas Carter Crawford “John Dewey, Josef Albers, Pragmatism, and American Design Education” Chair: Art Rice
- Tae Seo Koo “Integrating Design Disciplines: Understanding the potential for and factors affecting the success of interdisciplinary” Chair: Art Rice
- Sudeshna Chatterjee, “Children’s Friendship with Place: An Exploration of Environmental Child Friendliness of Children’s Environments in Cities” Chair: Robin Moore
- Deborah Littlejohn, “Anticipation and Action in Graduate-level Design Programs: Building a Theory of Relationships Among Academic Culture, Professional Identity and the Design of the Teaching Environment” Chair: Meredith Davis
- Zhara Zamani “Affordance of Cognitive Play by Natural and Manufactured Elements and Settings in Preschool Outdoor Learning Environments” Chair: Robin Moore
- Traci Rider, “Exploring the Integration of Sustainability and Green Building Themes within Formal Architectural Education.” Chair: Wayne Place
- Constanza Sofia Miranda Mendoza, “Mapping Visual Negotiations in Innovation Driven Teams: A Peek Into the Design Process Culture of Graduate Engineering Students” Chair: Haig Khachatoorian
7. Design History and Criticism
Includes research related to the study of the history of design disciplines, theories of making and interpretation, and critical perspectives on design.
- Build knowledge about the interrelationships among design disciplines
- Develop new interpretive perspectives and modes of inquiry across and within disciplinary boundaries
Related Doctoral Dissertations:
- Hyejung Chang, “Mapping the Web of Landscape Aesthetics: A critical Study of Theoretical Perspectives in Light of Environmental Sustainability” Chair: Paul Tesar
- Zeynep Uysal, “Architectural Type as a Cultural Schema and Its Cognitive Use in Architectural Design: An Analysis of the Aga Khan Award Winning Dwellings in Turke” Chair: Kristen Schaffer
- Cecilia Mouat, “The Discourse of the City in American and British Films between the 1930s and 1960s” Chair: Haig Khachatoorian