USC Architecture XpoInstructor: Brian Deluna
Architecture lives through translation. Forms shift as they move from building to drawing, drawing to model, and memory to reimagination. In that passage, details are lost and new possibilities appear. Architecture is never fixed, but continually reshaped through representation. Perspective, orthographic, and axonometric projection do not simply document form; they shape how it is conceived […]
Studying the effects of glass, this thesis reimagines the modern community greenhouse not as a simple enclosure, but as a dynamic, light-mediating architecture driven by the material intelligence of glass. Through the strategic layering of glass tubes, etched, fluted, and dichroic glass panels, overlapping translucencies generate shifting atmospheres of diffused light, shadow, and spectral phenomena […]
Learning at the Threshold proposes a civic space for learning and support in downtown Bakersfield that addresses the psychological and social barriers first-generation and working class students face when navigating higher education. Located adjacent to Mill Creek Park, the project positions learning between institutional systems and everyday public life, where support can be encountered informally […]
People often experience spaces that distort or manipulate their perceived depth, scale, and orientation, where what is seen does not fully align with what is physically built. This project is grounded in an interest in those perceptual conditions, examining how architecture can construct and intensify such experiences. Theater becomes the medium for this investigation, serving […]
This thesis investigates how a building can operate as a small city through nested spatial relationships. The project is organized as a sequence of volumes moving from private to public, connected by an inhabited spine that structures movement and spatial continuity. Within each volume, a “house within a house” strategy establishes layered zones of privacy, […]
Inspired by Aldo Rossi’s conception of the city as a repository of collective memory, this thesis understands form as a monument capable of holding, revealing, and sustaining memory over time. It proposes a daytime garden and activity center for individuals experiencing cognitive decline, where therapeutic landscapes and sensory environments are designed to stimulate engagement and […]
Across the world, more than 117 million people are forcibly displaced by violence, with the global refugee population reaching 42.5 million and continuing to rise as civilian populations face ongoing conflict. Much of this growth stems from recent crises in East Africa and Southwest Asia. This thesis examines the uneven application of international law, questioning […]
This thesis explores how craft-based geometries inform architectural material systems through softness and memory. Using techniques such as smocking, pleating, and tufting, textiles are manipulated into repeatable surface patterns and translated into cast materials to retain their tactile logic. Quilting is used as an organizational system and storytelling method, embedding heritage and domestic craft into […]
This thesis investigates the evolution of architectural ornament from deep, material relief to its contemporary flattened condition. Historically, ornament was embedded within construction, serving as an index of craftsmanship and material resistance. In contrast, contemporary ornament often appears as a digitally generated surface effect, privileging image, repetition, and visual performance over tectonic expression. As ornament […]
The self-built additions that puncture the facades of Vietnam’s built environment define an urbanism that is incremental, resourceful, and shaped by its inhabitants. As Vietnam rapidly urbanizes, this informal architecture that characterizes the urban fabric is threatened by speculative development and systemic neglect. This thesis proposes a lightweight scaffolding superstructure as a second skin onto […]