Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Zuzanna Karczewska; Chere LeClair (co-chair)Diggins, Nicholaus Michael2013-06-252013-06-252010https://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/1180Too often architecture is perceived as only a building and its site. To utilize the power of architecture one must harness and develop the true nature of place in its totality. Development must be rooted in the human need to connect to their world and surroundings, allowing one to fully understand their own identity. Every site has its own unique spirit, or genius loci. Finding this is a process and, when tapped into correctly, the genius loci can create a connection between the human body and the spirit of their surroundings. Ultimately the human existence thrives on the need to belong. The separation of place and architecture leads to confusion and the division of body and spirit. Architecture needs to be the medium that enhances a place's identity and can connect one to the world around them. Place must be developed through an understanding of how it came to be, what it is now and how it will be shaped and strengthened as a union between architecture and place. Knowing how to deconstruct the social and built environments to origins for our understanding is the basis of questioning. A full body experience has the power to enrich our life by connecting spirit and identity into an environment. Architecture is art and science of design; it develops identities related to site, further strengthening them. It is a product of man alone, who has an inner ability to leave his mark respectively within a landscape by using human design, creating harmony between body and nature through the art of architecture. The solution is to create an Architecture that allows one to be awakened to the world around them, through a process of raising awareness to an environment and its specifics.enPlace (Philosophy)ArchitectureLand useEcologyThesisCopyright 2010 by Nicholaus Michael Diggins