Thesis #1: Compact city living can become the sustainable design of the future.
Jenks, M., Elizabeth Burton, and Katie Williams. The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form? London: E & FN Spon, 1996. Google Books. Web. 5 Sept. 2015.
Easthope, Hazel, and Bill Randolph. “Governing the Compact City: The Challenges of Apartment Living in Sydney, Australia.” Housing Studies 24.2 (2009): 243-59. Web.
Shammin, Md R., et al. “A Multivariate Analysis of the Energy Intensity of Sprawl Versus Compact Living in the U.S. for 2003.” Ecological Economics 69.12 (2010): 2363-73.
Fulcher, Merlin. “Marc Vlessing: ‘Detailed Design can make Compact Living Work’.” The Architects’ Journal (2015)
Little, Matthew. “Is Compact Living Up to its Promise?” Third Sector.307 (2003): 5.
Roo, Gert de, and Donald Miller. Compact Cities and Sustainable Urban Development: A Critical Assessment of Policies and Plans from an International Perspective. Burlington, VT; Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate, 2000.
Thesis #2: City planning with urban landscapes in mind helps improve the quality of urban life.
Saelen, Arne, and LandsKap Design. Urban Landscapes. Barcelona: Loft, 2012.
Sargolini, Massimo, and SpringerLink (Online service). Urban Landscapes: Environmental Networks and Quality of Life. 1. Aufl.; 1 ed. Milano: Springer Milan, 2013.
Fitzpatrick, Kevin M., and Mark La Gory. Unhealthy Places: The Ecology of Risk in the Urban Landscape. New York: Routledge, 2000.
Hitchmough, James. Urban Landscape Management. Sydney: Inkata Press, 1994.
Losantos, Agata, et al. Urban Landscape: New Tendencies, New Resources, New Solutions. Barcelona, Spain: Loft Publications, 2007.
Liu, Li, and Lei Xu. “Discussion on the Urban Landscape Design Considering the Human Activities.” Applied Mechanics and Materials 584-586 (2014): 617.
Thesis #3: Designing architecture and furniture together can create adaptable compact spatial environments.
Coyle, Colin. “Design in Motion: Final 1 Edition.” Sunday Times: 14. 2003.
Williamson, Gayle A. Yudina, Anna. Furnitecture: Furniture that Transforms Space. 140 Vol. Library Journals, LLC, 2015.
Tokuda, Hideyuki. “Smart Furniture: A Platform for Context-Aware Embedded Ubiquitous Applications”.
Riley, Paula, and Kenneth V. Stevens. “Shape adaptable and renewable furniture system.” U.S. Patent No. 5,775,778. 7 Jul. 1998.
Sotheby’s (Firm). Sotheby’s Concise Encyclopedia of Furniture. 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1989.
Li, Yan. “Folding Art Conforms to Small Spatial Furniture Design”.
Blakemore, Robbie G. History of Interior Design & Furniture: From Ancient Egypt to Nineteenth- Century Europe. 2nd ed. Hoboken, N.J: J. Wiley & Sons, 2006.
Thesis #4: Adaptive reuse helps create cost effective and sustainable architecture by transforming and retrofitting old buildings for new uses.
Boschmann, E. E. and Gabriel, J. N. (2013), “Urban sustainability and the LEED rating system: case studies on the role of regional characteristics and adaptive reuse in green building in Denver and Boulder, Colorado.” The Geographical Journal, 179: 221–233.
Bullen, Peter A., and Peter E.D. Love. “The Rhetoric of Adaptive Reuse or Reality of Demolition: Views from the Field.” The Rhetoric of Adaptive Reuse or Reality of Demolition: Views from the Field. Elsevier Publishing Co., 9 Apr. 2010. Web. 06 Sept. 2015.
Corral, Andrea. “Repurposing Old Buildings More Satisfying than Knocking them Down.” Las Vegas Business Press 31.29 (2014)ProQuest. Web. 6 Sep. 2015.
Carroon, Jean. “P.7-42; 47-55.” Sustainable Preservation: Greening Existing Buildings. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2010. N. pag. Print.
KERSTING, JESSICA. “INTEGRATING PAST AND PRESENT: THE STORY OF A BUILDING THROUGH ADAPTIVE REUSE.” Electronic Thesis or Dissertation. University of Cincinnati, 2006. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. 06 Sep 2015.
Rabun, J. Stanely. “Structural Analysis of Historic Buildings.” Google Books. John C. Wiley & Sons, Inc., n.d. Web. 06 Sept. 2015.
Thesis #5: Although net zero design is high in cost, buildings that generate their own energy save more in energy spending than they cost to build.
Alter, Lloyd. “Net Zero Energy Building Certification Finally Defines What Net Zero Really Means.” TreeHugger. MNN Holding Company, LLC, 17 Oct. 2013. Web. 05 Sept. 2015.
Braham, William W. “Re(De)fining Net Zero Energy: Renewable Emergy Balance in Environmental Building Design.” Libraries.psu.edu. Elsevier Publishing Co., Jan. 2012. Web. 06 Sept. 2015.
Charron, Rémi, and Andreas Athienitis, PhD. “Modeling, Design, and Optimization of Net-Zero Energy Buildings.” (2015): n. pag. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc., 2006. Web. 5 Sept. 2015.
Gray, Meredith, and Jay Zarnikau. “Getting to Zero.” Energy, Sustainability and the Environment (2011): 231-71. US Department of Energy, Sept. 2009. Web. 5 Sept. 2015.
Hootman, Thomas, AIA, LEED. “Net Zero Energy Design.” Google Books. John C. Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2013. Web. 06 Sept. 2015.
Winters, Steven. “Net Zero Energy Buildings.” Net Zero Energy Buildings. National Institute of Building Sciences, 16 Dec. 2014. Web. 05 Sept. 2015.
Your first thesis is good, but it may be too broad. Narrow this down by specifying what type of city living- shared apartments? Micro housing capsules? Transformable spaces? For thesis 2, ask yourself, “would anyone disagree with me?” Most people probably agree that city planning with urban landscapes improves the quality of urban life. Maybe you could twist this into more of an argument by saying “Urban landscapes are most successful when they are designed as part of a city master plan”. Of course in this case it could be difficult to define what you mean by “more successful”. Thesis 3 could be interesting- try to make it more of an argument, and consider choosing whether you want to focus on “adaptable” or “compact” as these two do not necessarily have to go together. Thesis 4 and 5 are good, but both could be more specific. Consider focusing on one or two projects for each in order to prove your point in such a short paper. Thesis 5 could be tricky because it is more of a fact than an argument. In each case, a net zero building would either prove or disprove this thesis definitively, leaving you little room to argue.