Thesis: S.M. in Art, Culture and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 108-113). / The thesis will explore the migration of content between forms, specifically between cinema and text. By reflexively interrogating my film Dry Country, and drawing a thread through Yugoslav film history and Slovenian history (1941-present), I will map what happens when the record of what has been captured in the film's production confronts a language, be it text or montage. The paper is a partner piece to the film Dry Country, in the process of becoming at the-time of writing, which is concerned with a forest in Slovenia as a site of memory politics originating in the Second World War, and the echoes of that event today. The paper will dig deeper into the themes, questions, and specific historical context elaborated by the film; while in its structure it will stitch a poetic juxtaposition between the process of filmmaking and the mechanism of memory, in its capture, editing, projection, and transmission between people. By combining the theoretical trinity of the dynamic landscape (architectural), the evidential paradigm of the clue (micro-historical), and the materialist dialectic (philosophical), I have found a way to come the closest, through theory, to a means of articulating my thinking about making films in and about our relationship to landscape. The text will consider these themes in an essayistic manner, unfolding through alternating voices experiencing the recording of 'memory' and questioning the supposed site of history. The text proposes that it is located neither in the mind of the individual nor in a specific site or image, but in the gaps between, as a space of translation. I propose that mapping this territory can be done by crossing the rift from different reference points, between voice and image, between site and archive. I am designing the film and the text to be isolated works, standing on their own, though ultimately in conversation with one another. My goal is to reveal the space between the film and the text as a possible trajectory of future exploration for my artistic practice. / by Ian Jacob Soroka. / S.M. in Art, Culture and Technology

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 108). / Industrialized building emerged as a consequence of the need for the economical and rapid provision of healthy and safe living environments. In both Europe and developing countries, concrete panel systems were gradually established as the primary building prefabrication method. However, concrete panel buildings demonstrated in time resistance to change, lack of adaptability to diverse sites and contexts and inefficiency in the use of the relatively expensive cement and steel. Open systems offer an alternative direction to industrialization in construction. In open systems, the differentiation of permanent from non-permanent elements and the organization of only the permanent ones in the form of a rationalized structural system (characteristic of open systems}, allow for the variable position and material composition of all walls. Nevertheless, conventional frame systems are not easily adaptable to diverse sites, since structural interdependency of bays and the need for alignment of elements allow only limited variability of building form. The developed Slab-Column System, presented herein, is a rationalized structural system which goes a step beyond conventional frames. Besides offering the possibility for flexible and changeable divisions of its structural platforms, the system is adaptable to a diversity of site conditions, thus broadening the applicability of large-scale prefabrication. / by Floris Panayides. / M.S.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1987. / Bibliography: leaves 98-101. / by Susan B. Wertheim. / M.S.

Thesis: S.M. in Building Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2018. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 97-99). / Atriums are widely applied in non-residential buildings to provide social contact, daylight, air circulation, and aesthetic requirements. Buoyancy-driven ventilation systems are common because they can maintain suitable thermal comfort and reduce energy. Modeling techniques used to simulate naturally ventilation include analytical models, full-scale and small-scale experiments, computational fluid dynamics(CFD) and airflow network tools, which have advantages and limitations. Investigations on atrium structure and opening characteristics have been limited up to now. This thesis studies the temperature stratification and air flow rates inside atrium buildings in purely buoyancy-driven ventilation. Ventilation effects in models with different heat sources, opening locations, opening sizes and numbers of floors are compared using CFD simulations. An airflow network tool, CoolVent, is used to compare the results with CFD models. Both temperatures and flow rates match well with discrepancies less than 10%. Therefore, the well-mixed temperature assumption in the atrium in the airflow network tool is suitable for single-layer atrium buildings. The full-scale experiment provides a detailed data set for further investigations. Air temperatures keep stable on every floor but increase with height. Therefore, the well-mixed temperature assumption over the entire height of the atrium in many analytical models is not applicable when the cross section of the atrium is small. The prediction of temperature distribution and flow rates in atrium buildings with buoyancy-driven ventilation is provided in details. Indoor air temperatures and flow rates can be calculated with known outside air temperatures and surface temperatures in the atrium. The estimation of heat transfer coefficients, especially the approximation of stairs can cause some discrepancies between calculated and actual results. / by Qinzi Luo. / S.M. in Building Technology

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 57-58). / In the last two decades, with the high speed urbanization, walled residential compound as the typical housing development is being constructed on a large scale in peripheral areas of Chinese cities. Its self-enclosing nature and large scale bring some negative aspects to the city and the community itself, such as traffic congestion, inconvenience of public transportation, lack of street life, redundancy and exclusiveness of public amenities. However, the existence of enclosing perimeter has its historical context and contemporary causes. Instead of completely rejecting "walled community" as a viable typology, this thesis aims to develop a guideline that can transform the "wall" and to arrive at an optimum semi-walled residential compound typology. / by Na Sun. / S.M.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2011. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 79). / The urban mainstream suffers from a lack of space. Kitchens are too small to hold a gathering of friends. Spare bedrooms, garages, basements, offices and parlors are foregone in the interest of compaction. The Rise of the Creative Class, an economic engine with its roots in the city, faces an especially challenging relationship to space. While the vitality of urban density is paramount to the success and growth of creative economies, a lack of available affordable space curtails the potential growth of home brewed culture, entrepreneurship and industry. This project engages this resource gap by imagining a cooperative model as a core infrastructure for the creative city. The context for this project is within the future Innovation District of Boston on the Fan Pier Boston site. The innovation District is currently being imagined by the City of Boston, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, developers, architects and planners as a mixed-use neighborhood with the economic and cultural energy to attract a global creative class workforce. Fan Pier Boston is a flagship development within the Innovation District. Due to ongoing global recession, 7 of the 8 buildings proposed for the site have been deferred. The COOP is situated in this interim period, between the existing expanse of parking lots that occupy Fan Pier Boston today, and its future promise as a hub of global innovation. The COOP condenses the vitality of a creative city onto the site of the Fan Pier. Membership owned kitchens workshops and film studios combined with public event spaces for film screening, art openings and concerts anticipate a future creative class urban fabric for the future Boston Innovation District. / by Timothy R. Olson. / M.Arch.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-[69]). / Currently available housing in the Arctic is limited to solutions that have been adapted from designs for less severe climates. This thesis has developed a new manner of residential construction designed specifically for the Arctic climate and culture. The system invented ensures a variety of building options for traditional cultural requirements, while also improving on the level of amenity expected of contemporary dwellings. It has developed a sustainable and responsible building system that represents definite and quantifiable improvements through the use of appropriate technologies. / by Joel A. Turkel. / M.Arch.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Thesis. 1971. B.Arch. / Text within red line borders. / B.Arch.

Thesis (M.C.P.) Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture, 1952. / Bibliography: leaves 118-119. / by Justin Gray. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1986. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH / Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-96). / The roof is man's basic shelter against the elements. The form of the roof itself affects the image of a building. The problem of shelter has been approached in different ways by different cultures. A wide range of forces such as climate, technology, available resources and social, personal and stylistic influences give form to the roof. These forces are particular in both place and time. As a framework for investigation that can apply to all roofs, this thesis looks specifically at roof forms as a response to the force of gravity, approached in terms of a dialogue between horizontal and vertical. Assuming the ground to be horizontal and the building essentially vertical, the building is seen as aspiring to some connection with the vault of the sky. The roof is explored as the meeting of building and sky -- a transition zone between shelter and openness. The forms, materials and spaces that work to resolve that connection as well as the associations and meanings they have for man are explored. The purpose is to better understand the fundamental forces that affect the form of roofs and people's perceptions of them. / by Sandra Leigh Olson Snow. / M.Arch.