Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 68-69). / The residential building sector currently makes up one-half of the total U.S. building industry; yet less than five percent of residential construction involves architectural services. This irrelevancy has only further distanced the already unfamiliar role of American architects from their clientele. Domestic spaces in production homes are defined by continuous generic surfaces. This thesis recognizes the latent architectural opportunities that current domestic surfaces provide. The thesis aims to establish a framework of design methods and building strategies for creatively engaging common domestic surfaces. Using laminate as a case study, the project advocates that such methods and strategies may be implemented to advance the seen value of architectural design in the American home. The framework supports sustaining these methods by weaving material working processes with industry trades and manufacturers. The thesis should be viewed as a generative seed in which future research and innovation may be continued with a similar focus. / by Jason Wilbur Hart. / M.Arch.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-55). / This design thesis studies the potential of urban design and urban housing to weave vacant lands, their urban context and the urban communities surrounding them. It focuses on an urban housing project adjacent to Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. The theoretical background of this thesis partially comes from Aldo Rossi's observation that cities are composed of many distinct districts that were formed as smaller cities. According to Rossi, designers should operate on these districts as the first step toward designing cities as a whole. Boston is one of the case studies in Kevin Lynch's image theory. The image map he provided is very crucial for my urban design. The thesis proposes a city subcenter based on the image map of the South End. Moreover, the site is located in one of the low income residential districts in Boston. Social polarization is very obvious between the site, the South End - Harrison Lenox neighborhood, and other residential districts, such as Beacon Hill and Back Bay. Therefore, this thesis also focuses on defensible space design. An effort is made to reduce social polarization, blur the physical boundary of public housing, and make the neighborhood a desirable place to live. The first half of this thesis focuses on a background study and provides precedents of university- community tension and affordable housing in Boston. Also included is a site study encompassing the university, the communities and the surrounding area in general. The second half of the thesis provides design guidelines for future development and an urban design for the site area. / by Jing Yu. / S.M.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1983. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH / Includes bibliographical references (p. 147). / This study explores a strategy for an urban intervention in Centro Poniente, Santiago de Chile. Centro Poniente represents an urban district that needs some sense of focus and orientation. The hypothesis is that such an intervention should be sympathetic to the character of the city fabric as manifested by the physical elements in a gamut of scales. Such manifestations are reflections of cultural norms and values. Intervention then represents an incorporation of new standards as a dialectic between permanence and change. In its structure and sequence, the thesis illustrates a way of designing, with the purpose of making that more conscious and explicit. The incremental process of recognizing appropriate images or organizational devices and then incorporating them in an evolving project, carries the exploration through a series of studies of various components of the city of Santiago: walls, components of walls, components generated by walls; scales, dimensions and light modulation of such components all contribute to the making of a promenade acting as a catalyst for the revitalization of Centro Poniente / by Corinne Catherine Girard. / M.Arch.

Thesis (M.S.V.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1985. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-93). / Personal computers are easy to program, inexpensive and portable. With two Commodore 64 computers, I created an artistic installation entitled "Songs in the Language of Information". It was composed of elements reflecting time, space, light, action and predictability. The two computers controlled projected light patterns, complementary synthesized sound and interactive relays triggered by viewers crossing light beams. The following thesis documents "Songs in the Language of Information". The "Introduction" presents background development leading up to this work. All components of the installation are discussed in "Physical Description" and "Analysis of the Work". A survey of selected recent and past work that has been influential to me is outlined in "Historical Precedents". "The Program" illustrates graphic elements, presents flow charts and lists programs of all subroutines used in the installation. The "Conclusion" offers what for me is the next step in my artistic work with computers. / by Sarah Geitz. / M.S.V.S.

Thesis: Ph. D. in Design and Computation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2016. / 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 439-447). / Meaning is the essence. It is the primary reason for us to keep doing things. Meaning is both significance and the endless unfolding of significance. Visual Meaning is fundamental for visual arts and design processes. One draws, paints, sculpts, throws sponges on the wall, dips one's own body into paint and crawls on the ground or codes to create lines, spots or fields (Knight), all of which are then looked into, perceived and iterated. Vision is so important that Alberti's eye becomes a godly creature with wings that flies among thunderstorms, Kepler's eye becomes a perfect machine through which stars and galaxies leaks (Alpers), Vermeer's eye becomes the ultimate light filter and depicter. Finally Stiny's eye establishes a "unique computational theory: Shape Grammars" (Knight and Stiny). And all this happens in a series of places (Casey), as one wanders through streams of creative visual processes along one's humaning (Ingold). Once I portray the moment of visual discovery as an encounter, the artists and the designer as encounterers and the computer as the counter, I ask: can the ultimate counter [the computer] provide true encounters for creative visual processes? Computing visual meaning -- it really possible? I unfold these questions by introducing a visual-making apparatus around which all scientifically separated players, the encounter, the encounterer and the counter become interwoven in one place. Visual-making, similar to living, requires us to twist, bend, embrace and abandon. The human-be-comput-ing tree grows to introduce a novel model for drawing and painting, for humaning. An uncommon place for discovering and computing visual meanings, the Broadened-Drawing Scape, emerges. / by Onur Yüce Gün. / Ph. D. in Design and Computation

Thesis (B. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1953. / MIT copy bound with: A mountain resort at Mt. Washington / Howard Forbes Rockstrom [1953] Accompanying drawings held by MIT Museum. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 20). / W. Wenner Smith II. / B.Arch.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-50). / The dream of the twentieth century man is disappearing into the realm of the next millennium. His world is both far -reaching and unreachable. Technological transmission has begun to collapse global distance and scale, creating alternative and deceptive work-home relationships. The middle ground of suburban America, created mostly by the automobility of the common worker, is increasingly evolving into a devoid and meaningless setting . Nowhere is the dreamer or the mystic so alone then within the conformity and uniformity of the social norm. "Shelterskinspeed" describes a design direction based in the study of warehouse/homes for the alternative individual. A large volume architectural space utilizing steel, glass, and concrete in raw industrial bays is the new stage for the old modern man . A homestead setting for work, living and emotional play transcends the notion of the "house as a machine for living" into the "house as static vehicle." The spirit of this thesis lies trapped within the tangled forest of a depressed cynical psyche. His home is his castle and his imaginary defense against the demons of his mind. Reclusive and brooding, the new world man ponders his fate and existence from this last bastion of security. He wears his home as the quest knight resides in his armor. / by Paul Kevin Matelic. / M.Arch.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-115). / The Enterprise Society was established under the Socialism system, with planned economy, public ownership of property and equal wealth distribution. Workers are the owners of the factory and the factory is the home of workers. It was the primary form of China's residential settlements built after 1949. After about 40 years of practice, these settlements have shown many special characteristics different from the other residential areas. By using Harbin Measuring & Cutting Tool Works, Inc., a prime factory in China's tool industry, as a case study, this thesis has done an evaluation of this settlement form. Through a study of the organization, quality of social and physical environment inside the enterprise, the thesis analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of enterprise societies in relationship to the changing economic and social backgrounds. The current reform in China is changing the country's economic and ideological structures which are causing many related systems to change. Among the housing in China, a large percentage is operated by big enterprises. Basing on the analysis the thesis concluded by offering some suggestions on housing reform in enterprise societies. / by Gang Peng. / M.S.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59). / This thesis shows how architects can use Rapid Prototyping and what the advantages and disadvantages are in different manipulations of the tool. Chapter two attempts to chart a road map of the rapid prototyping media. The data were drawn from a number of first hand experiments conducted by the author as well as by colleagues in MIT School of Architecture and Harvard Graduate School of Design, and in actual practice. The whole research lies on the boundary between virtual and real, on physical prototyping from a digital file. Digital prototyping and manual prototyping are mentioned only as references. The research offers examples of manipulations of the media and conclude that rapid prototyping in preliminary stages of design is most appropriate when used in what is defined as Direct CAD (Computer Aided Design) with Direct CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing). Furthermore, it identifies Semi -Direct CAD with Direct CAM as the manipulation most commonly used by architects. This manipulation is useful for presentation models but not very useful in early stages where ideas are less definite. This is the reason why rapid prototyping is generally considered inappropriate for early stages of architectural design. Instead of analyzing Rapid Prototyping technology this work concentrates on the process that involves Rapid Prototyping in new ways in design . It aims to stimulate the designer's imagination when thinking about three -dimensional design, design in motion and design at the interface between people and architecture, for example, chairs and kitchens. In this context Rapid Prototyping becomes merely a vehicle by which the architect explores the design process. Rapid Prototyping is proposed as a media to escape the limitation imposed by flat screen representation in what is defined as true three dimensional digital design. This technology was invented in engineering to increase design and manufacturing process performances. / by Alvise Simondetti. / M.S.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Thesis. 1965. M.Arch. / Accompanying drawings held by MIT Museum. / M.Arch.