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TY  - THES
AU  - Garcia Valencia, Juliana
TI  - What makes a neighborhood a home?
PB  - Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen
VL  - Masterarbeit
CY  - Aachen
M1  - RWTH-2025-07668
SP  - 1 Online-Ressource : Illustrationen
PY  - 2025
N1  - Veröffentlicht auf dem Publikationsserver der RWTH Aachen University
N1  - Masterarbeit, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, 2025
AB  - The very origin of this thesis is a purely sensorial reflection over the feeling of Home. The need for giving a purely subjective concept an objective scientific explanation originated the research question: ‘What makes a neighborhood a home?’ In response to the failures of modern and profit-driven urban development models, characterized by generic, disconnected, and lifeless environments. This Thesis proposes a human-centered, pattern-based approach to neighborhood design. Drawing from Christopher Alexander’s theory of Pattern Language, as well as empirical insights gathered from global interviews, the research constructs a multidimensional framework of “home” including identity, interaction, sanctuary, sensing, and kinship. Based on these dimensions, 47 architectural and urban patterns were selected as “patterns that make homes.” These were identified prior to the Case Study analysis and served as the basis for testing how spatial conditions influence the experience of home. Through historical and spatial examination of two neighborhoods—Lousberg in Aachen, Germany, and Barrio La Francia in Manizales, Colombia—the selected patterns were mapped, their evolution traced, and their interactions analyzed to understand how they shape urban form and lived experience. The findings are synthesized into a proposed meta-model: a Toolbox of design strategies aimed at supporting architects and planners in creating urban environments that foster complex human interaction, emotional resonance, and a sense of place. Beyond offering practical guidance, this thesis provides an objective response to contemporary trends that promote superficial replications of classical architecture in pursuit of urban beauty. Instead, it presents a solution rooted in the idea that beauty emerges from interacting patterns that create life, support human presence, and enable sensing and belonging in residential urban spaces.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)19
DO  - DOI:10.18154/RWTH-2025-07668
UR  - https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/record/1018068
ER  -