Master Thesis...

[DanBatRoss]

Hi!

I have a little problem about my master thesis (i think that is called like this in english, in europe, spain, we call it "final degree project").

I have just finished my degree in material engineering,so now i have to do my "Master thesis" about science materials. The point is that the projects offered are not so interesting and in fact i'm much more interested in architecture and urbanism.

So I asked for doing a different project, a project about materials in the urbanism, or in architecture. They said, OK. But i have to find the project, the principal topic and they have to check it, and say that is valid for my degree...

Now im searching some topics about " materials in urbanism " to work about.

Do you know some topics? or Universities offering some projects that fits in? or some webpages specialised in materials-architecture?

Thank you very much!

[supergeek1313]

I'm not quite sure what you're studying, but at least in North America there has been initiatives to make buildings LEED certified (more environmentally friendly). How cities will cope with retrofitting older stock may be a topic of interest, though I don't know much about it. Look into civil engineering - it may be midway between planning/architecture and science materials.

[Gkorstad Staegenheim]

"Theses" are usually in reference to more academic-oriented research papers that add to the existing academic literature; while 'research projects' or 'degree projects' don't need be as theoretical (e.g. they can be a report for an agency, an essay perhaps, etc...). (Although I think sometimes the distinction may be arbitrary in some cases.)

As for Material Engineering, I agree with supergeek that you may get some ideas from Civil Engineering. Might also be good idea to look at topics concerning urban infrastructure.

Are you interested in city-wide scale topics, or more site-specific? There seems to be a potentially wide range of topics to choose from.

[DanBatRoss]

Sure, Civil Eng. topics are also in my mind. As sosteinable development and all topics around this.

But now, im "lost", i need something specific, some specific topic or some little range to look in. Thats the diffuclt point :S

Thx however

[wahday]

I have recently been interested in the relationship between the cost of building materials/labor and how these factors impact the types of structures that are built today. People often lament that we don't build things the way we did "back in the day" and I am curious the degree to which these issue play into it. This could be sort of an economics and materials analysis. There are a number of related questions as well - what are the (physical) properties of these newer building materials and how do they impact the process of building? What has caused a shift in building materials over time (from stone to Tyvex)? How has this impacted the way people view structures? (cathedrals that exist for hundreds of years, versus big box stores that last about 20 to 30)

The LEED angle is also interesting. Some sustainable approaches encourage obtaining as many materials as possible from within a certain radius from the building site. You could examine a specific building site and try and see if this is possible, and if so, what local materials could be used.

[DanBatRoss]

Ei! thx a lot man! you really help me

[DPP]

One materials-related topic you might look into is the use of alternative materials for sidewalks... the topic seems to come up a lot here as to how long rubber sidewalks last... some real world and laboratory testing of the materials used might be very useful.