Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2010. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 231-233). / In 1926, the United States' first Egyptologist James Henry Breasted and the philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr., proposed to build a New Egyptian Museum and Research Institute in Cairo. The Egyptian government ultimately rejected the proposal and the museum was never built as suggested. The project's failure was attributed to "suspicious" or "irrational" nationalism and "Egyptian vanity." The archives, however, demonstrate otherwise. This thesis analyzes the Breasted-Rockefeller museum's conception, trajectory and failure, using the team's lengthy correspondence. The archives show that the project was an early example of U.S. cultural imperialism, disguised as a gift of "Science," from the "Great Democracy of the West," to an Egypt desirous of independence from British and French empires. Deploying the twin themes of post World War I "opportunity" (political) and "obligation" (civilizational, scientific, philanthropic) to demonstrate the imperial possibilities of the particular political and cultural moment in 1926, Breasted mobilized Rockefeller first and the U.S. State Department later, to pry open the political field in Egypt for U.S. entry through archaeology and appropriation of antiquity. The Breasted-Rockefeller team's strategy was to create an Anglo- American alliance in the Near East, by beginning with the creation of a private-philanthropic corporation for the New Egyptian Museum, controlled by Western archaeologists, with token Egyptian representation. This ambitious and innovative approach to imperialism was spatially and architecturally revealed in the proposed museum's design and in its location in Cairo. That this project failed when it would succeed in later iterations elsewhere, is to be ascribed both to the lack of U.S. power against competing British and French imperialisms at this early stage, as well as to Egyptian nationalism, which identified the Breasted-Rockefeller proposal for the imperial project that it was, and which had begun to recognize Egyptian antiquity as a metaphor for nationalism. / by Azra Dawood. / S.M.

Thesis (M. Arch)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1988. / Bibliography: leaves 57-58. / The purpose of the thesis is the design of a seaside resort in the island of Andros in Greece. A year-round focus of attraction amidst the Aegean Sea the resort would center around sea related activities. The experience of a strong landscape, in peace with the proposed architecture, and the Greekness of the place are the central design objectives of the project. The attempt is to bring aesthetics together with seaside life and nature in such a state so that one can appreciate them together, and understand that architecture can be sacred and essential in forming a successful environment. / by Constantine Anthony Kriezis. / M.Arch

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-79). / by Johanes Ribli. / M.S.

Thesis (M.Arch.) Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture, 1956. / :Accompanying drawings held by MIT Museum. / Bibliography: leaf 39. / by Derek Anthony Cobb. / M.Arch.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Thesis. 1966. M.Arch. / Accompanying drawings held by MIT Museum. / M.Arch.

Thesis (B.Arch.) Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture, 1948. / MIT copy bound with: A fraternity house for Theta Xi / James A. Acteson, Jr. 1948. / by Seymour Jarmul. / B.Arch.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1986. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 59-61. / by David A. Ross. / M.S.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 58). / The intention of this project is to utilize sound as representation of MIT research-extending out to the public what may be invisible, or less known to the broader community interested in MIT's spectrum of work. I am utilizing Building 54, also known as the Green Building, on the MIT campus to address the public and MIT community through a vehicle of transmission utilizing sound as representation of research here at MIT. Collaborating with scientists from MIT's Haystack Observatory, I am proposing the sonic display of research data from an architectural scale, a speaker setup on the south facade of the Green Building. This project will be a multi-speaker sound installment with a total of 35 Public Address speakers temporarily attached to the vertical concrete columns on the buildings' facade. The speakers will be broadcasting audio representations of sound waves embedded in Earth's charged upper atmosphere, or ionosphere. These sounds make tangible the state of the ionospheric portion of the terrestrial upper atmosphere, a region under active radar study by the Atmospheric Sciences Group at MIT's Haystack Observatory. The speaker arrangement on the Green Building's facade visually reminds the listener of an upwards-sloping graph. This is representative of the spectral frequency distribution of the sounds, which vary both by time and in altitude. / (Cont.) This large-scale sound installment will make tangible the converging perspectives of contemporary arts and upper atmospheric science, representative for the advanced research focus of this institution, and exemplary for MIT's interests in creating an environment in which the arts merge with technology to create inspirations for artists and scientist likewise. The scale of this project is considerable, but so is the size of the Haystack Observatory installation, the distance to the ionosphere, and the iconic silhouette of the Green Building overseeing the MIT campus when viewed from the Boston bank of the Charles River. / by Carrie Bodle. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 134-136). / Since the last decade of the 20th century, landscape has become an emerging medium in the practice of urban design projects. Rather than architecture, landscape, once viewed as margin and subordinate of the architecture and planning discipline, now reverse its role from passive ground to active figure in the discussion of urbanism. However, the discussions surrounding landscape as urbanism still rely on case-by-case project practice and lack clarity and theoretical framework. This thesis will explore the common ground of the notion of landscape urbanism. The first part of the thesis compares the theories regarding landscape, city, and urbanism since 1960. The second part of the thesis investigates how landscape can act as a social instrument in the enormous territory of the East Valley in Phoenix when facing rapid population growth. I expect that there is a definable limit to legitimate landscape as a framework of urbanism in order to provide an alternative strategy for dealing the urban problems of contemporary metropolis. / by Tien-Yun Lee. / S.M.

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.