The monument as a physical object has been ever present throughout human history and as a program it oscillates between architecture and art. The motives, messages, and forms of representation found in historical monumentality are longstanding. With the maturation of the digital age in conjunction with post humanist design conditions in the near future, the existing mode of physical monumentality faces an existential crisis. This moment however provides an opportunity for the rebirth of the physical monument. This thesis seeks to explore, develop, and interrogate how new forms of monumentality can be adaptive, flexible, purposeful, and longstanding. Through the use of speculative future narratives, four unique approaches to future monumentality will be developed and followed through five snapshots over a thousand year period. Speculative future narratives will be created using the four future archetypes of Growth, Decline, Discipline, and Transformation as developed by Professor Jim Dator, Director of the Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The transitions between these four archetypes will provide societal and tectonic challenges that each monument will have to respond to. Once narratives and visual representations of these new monuments are created, they will be arranged in an analysis matrix using each of the four narratives and their five individual timeline moments which highlight and examine specific trends of spatial use, human interaction, societal relations, etc. From this analysis, an understanding of what the principles of a New Monumentality are can be determined in order to answer the question, how can architecture adapt the physical monument for a digital and post-humanist design future?

This thesis examines the benefit and need to integrate biophilic design strategies in modern architectural buildings. It discusses the extreme dissociation humanity has experienced from nature in the technological age, and the negative effects therein. Additionally, it dives into the way modern advancements have also led to a reliance upon artificial interfacing between individuals, rather than a traditional, in-person, face-to-face connection. This will further define biophilic design strategies, case studies and inspiration images of buildings in which they are already implemented, and how they can be utilized more. Lastly, it describes and displays a design concept for a youth center located at G.R. Herberger Park, interacting with the Central Arizona Project Canal. This project ultimately will be the first step in reconnecting people with nature and with each other, hopefully creating a butterfly effect that will spread throughout the city, state, and eventually the country.

Architecture has the potential to promote introspection when collaborating with natural elements that invoke observation of the natural world. Through a distinct coalition with natural light, materiality, and deliberate design, a space can transcend the user into a new realm that bridges the natural and the built environment. Suppose architecture is organized systemically to solely mediate the user and the natural world, offering opportunities for observation. In that case, it may catalyze the user to access their internal processes and sensations of the world around them. The abstract philosophies of Transcendentalism as a literary form can be translated through architecture as a physical form. Examining proponents of Transcendentalism and its emphasis on nature and individualism can establish a precedent for architecture as a tool for introspection. The works of light Artist James Turrell and the role of experiential architecture further demonstrate how natural light can organically supplement the overall effect of physical space. A synthesis of these underlying paradigms can produce architecture that exceeds its physical form and built environment and, instead, enters a metaphysical realm. This thesis seeks to demonstrate that if programs are designed to be associated with nature, there is an architectural manipulation through the senses and the natural environment, possibly providing opportunities for humans to achieve an elevated sense of introspection. This particular exploration of architecture can further supplement existing design practices and philosophical theories as it joins with nature, potentially promoting an introspective impact on the user’s psyche and cognizance.