Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-121). / Improvements in the real estate environment in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone have been conducive to development and foreign investment. Based on a projected market demand, a mixed-use development in the theme of a Cultural Village is proposed. The development takes the form of a public-private partnership that provides expatriates' housing, art-oriented retail and a public art gallery. Revenue from the private development, together with donation from a philanthropic foundation, funds the construction and operation of the public art gallery for the local residents as well as tourists. The design exploration focuses on Chinese garden design as a precedent and form generator for modem art exhibition spaces. Since art collections have traditionally been displayed in private residences, art gallery as a public building is an emerging concept in China. The goal of the project is to provide a cultural awareness and a unique shopping experience in a quality environment for the creation of residential land value. / by Joyce See-yin Lee. / M.Arch.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-86). / by Sarah Hilary Postyn. / M.S.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2012. / Pages 85 and 86 blank. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 82-84). / This thesis examines the latent potential of Chicago's former Union Stock Yard, which consequentially draws attention to the polarities of industrial food production. The Union Stock Yard was once symbolic of an era where urban progress was equated with efficiency and growth. Today, the site is facing an identity crisis: it is characterized predominantly by underutilized warehousing, however, innovative closed-loop food producers (such as The Plant and the Iron Street Farm) are indicative of an emerging narrative that focuses on sustainability, health, and taste. This thesis offers a design proposal for a new food technologies cluster that includes multifunctional programmatic components for: research, production, and marketing (as well as new residential communities.) The goal is to formulate a design solution that selectively packages existing elements (river, warehouses, workforce) with new buildings, infrastructure, and public spaces - to build a flexible urban network that will reconnect to the larger square-mile Chicago grid. To do so the study draws upon original analytical studies and numerous precedents that convert decommissioned industrial land. The design product will provide reflection upon the past as it presents a scenario for the future. / by Justin Burnham. / S.M.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Thesis. 1968. M.Arch. / M.Arch.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1986. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 175-179). / Drawing has become essential to the making of architecture. Though some of the most magnificent structures were created without documentation, testified by The Pyramids, the Parthenon, primitive dwellings, treehouses and many other "spontaneous" constructions, the contemporary profession of making buildings demands countless representations. From sketchy initial concepts to persuasive presentations to detailed construction documents, the making of images for a design sometimes takes longer than the construction process. Images must be read by many diverse people involved in the formation of buildings, therefore architectural notation systems demand consistency. Despite the accepted language of representation, images are abstractions of real objects. They are limited in their scope of information and allow us to bring our own perceptions to them. Architectural drawings stand between us and an object Due to their two dimensional nature, they must present information with symbols and conventions that we take for granted, just as we accept the structure of language. Many contemporary drawings are created not to serve the making of buildings, but to make a visual or ideological statement They are illustrative of ideas, and their resultant physical forms would express the manipulations of drawings, rather than the reverse. This aspect of representation has led me to question the substance of architectural images, their functions and the use of traditional notation systems specific to architecture and its allied crafts. Herbert Spenser said. "language must truly be regarded as a hindrance to thought" We think in images, though the mandatory learning of verbal formations may well befuddle our visions. Notation systems in architecture are similar to language. They too are abstractions of concepts and require training for understanding and manipulation. An investigation of their implications may offer more effective utilization. / by Kim Sammis. / M.Arch.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-63). / Synthetic leasing is a method used to provide off-balance sheet financing to a corporate entity for the acquisition and development of a commercial real estate asset. Recently, off-balance sheet transactions, specifically synthetic leases, have proliferated in connection with corporate acquisitions and with construction and development of corporate real estate facilities. Under synthetic leasing, the lease is treated as an operating lease for accounting purposes; however, for federal income tax purposes, the company will be deemed the owner of the property, thus offering the corporate user what appears to be the best of both leasing and ownership. Are synthetic leases all that they claim to be? Do they offer the user an advantageous hybrid of the ownership versus leasing options? And what are the risks and potential drawbacks of these lease types? This thesis examines each of these questions as part of the overall analysis of synthetic leases and their use within the corporate real estate setting. Research material is derived from two sources; existing research and writings of the topic, and personal interviews and case examples from three US corporations using synthetic leases. The conclusion that the work leads to is that synthetic leases are indeed an authentic means of structuring real estate to derive cost savings, improved financial ratios and preservation of company resources. However, the benefits are very situation- dependent and must be used after a thorough evaluation of all of the other transaction options. / by Jennifer F. Cookke. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-50). / From the very early phases of design conception, designers use sketches as a powerful design tool. Sketches are however ambiguous. Meanings are associated on fly as the designer 'comes up' with certain ideas while working with it. There is no hierarchy in a sketch. In fact 'structure' is established only after meanings are applied to the sketch. However even in such structurally and conceptually fluid territory, the designer solves most of his design problems and very often comes to quick resolutions. To understand this fascinating tool and how the designer interacts with it, we need to understand how we visually interpret sketches. The process of design is also a reflective act. The designer keeps changing his perspectives and focus based on the unexpected opportunities that emerge from such reflection. Computational systems used today in design exploration are not capable of doing so. On the contrary these systems model the world in a very rigid structured way and cannot produce design ideas beyond what their preset description anticipates. / (cont.) From this perspective there is no novelty, or surprise, in such systems. As a step forward, this thesis proposes the following: 1. Visual Schemas as procedural units of visual memory. They schematically store real world knowledge (courtyard) and form the basis for interpretation. 2. Separation of Shape and Visual Concepts. This thesis suggests that shapes are flat and abstract collection of parts, while visual concepts are subjective and hierarchic ideas, which are formed from the shapes through interpretation. A LISP machine is presented as a basic computational framework for implementing and establishing the model that is proposed. It observes a relatively simple architectural sketch, interprets it reflectively through the activation of potential, alternative contexts, and then gives a collection of concepts that it manages to 'see' in the sketch. / by Kaustuv Kanti de Biswas. / S.M.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1983. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH / Includes bibliographical references. / This thesis presents the intention of a theory and method in the studies of architectural types. It is believed in this theory that architectural types must be understood in cultural terms but described by means of geometric systems. The theory deals with two major subject matters: 1) the basic geometric form, in which a general type is presented, and 2) the transformations beginning with this geometric origin, in which various types are discovered. The starting point in chapter 2 is the ideal form of the Chinese compound houses, transformed from the cultural and social theme of family structure but represented by means of a series of geometric models. The geometric rules, transformed from social codes, conventions and agreements, dominate the typological transformations of these models, in which different patterns of transformation are classified. The classification of these patterns reveals the associations and distinctions between types. In chapter 3 the Taiwan area is taken as a regional example to demonstrate this theory and method, in which the regional interpretations of the ideal forms and the local transformation patterns are explored. The exploration of these local patterns establishes a basis on which further typological systems may be developed. Finally, two immediate issues are raised for further research: 1) about studies on settlement typology, in which the types of villages, towns and cities will be dealt with on the general basis of this theory, and 2) about an approach to design methodology by means of creating building types on the basis of the theoretical understanding and geometric analyses presented in this thesis. / by Yih-Ping Chang. / M.S.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2010. / "February 2010." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-68). / This thesis addresses the issue of ghost buildings in Bangkok, Thailand - buildings left unfinished since the financial crisis of 1997. Predicated by massive foreign investment, profligate lending and speculative construction, the crash left over five hundred 'interrupted' projects - buildings upwards of fifty storeys - standing as unwelcome monuments to global capital run amok. This project proposes reclamation strategies that would enable 'small agents' to inhabit and revive the abandoned structures. The design intends to echo both the populist, nativist movement that has taken root in post-crash Thailand, as well as the myriad informal systems that allow the overtaxed city of Bangkok to function vibrantly. / by Kevin M. Moore. / M.Arch.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-90). / This study investigates aspects of the interrelationship between poetry and architecture as two modes. of cultural expression. It postulates that the critical aesthetic values of a culture surface in its various products which may interchange influences and roles. As an example of a rich indigenous Yemeni and Islamic culture, the old city of San'â' provides a good case for the exploration of the nature of the contemplated interchange. The study considers some fundamental patterns in both the façades of San'â' and its lyrical poetry. The parallels drawn are used to construct hypotheses for the investigation of the patterns of the façades using techniques parallel to those used in studying the metric patterns of Arabic poetry. The proposed model shows promising potential as a tool to reveal the ordering principles underlying architectural composition. / Saba Taher Al-Suleihi. / M.S.