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Virginia Tech

Thresholds: End of Life and Architecture

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

The ultimate threshold state of a human life is the time preceding death. Hospice care provides a gateway environment for many people for their transition to the other side. Societies throughout history have had rituals and traditions to support the dying and their loved ones, but for modern society, few of these rituals remain. Death has become a topic to avoid "no one wants to look at it or speak about it. This taboo treatment of death often results in the isolation of people at the end of their lives. It also has a major impact on those who are losing their loved ones, as well as the caregivers that deal with death on a daily basis. Through the lens of hospice, this thesis will explore spaces of transition in architecture - the idea of thresholds, both physical and emotional. It seeks to develop a design that considers all of its users and their experience of death and dying.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Architecture
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Architecture
Department dc:contributor.department
Architecture
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2016

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Ditzel, Allie
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Emmons, Paul F.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Piedmont-Palladino, Susan C.
  • Feuerstein, Marcia F.

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:1116
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/73783

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Ditzel, Allie. Thresholds: End of Life and Architecture. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/73783