Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-93). / Landfills are consolidating into fewer, taller, and more massive singular objects in the exurban landscape.This thesis looks at one instance in Virginia, the first regional landfill in the state to accept trash from New York City.The landfill will become a starter for Green industrial sprawl, feeding energy back to New york and Richmond through its transformation of municipal solid waste into an energy farm. A singular path cuts into the mound, transgressing the border between the safe environment above and the active and toxic world entombed within the mound.The path alternately reveals this underworld and engages the senses in a series of physical acts: immersion in the bath house, smelling the flowers, ingesting food grown onsite.This transgressive path generates a confrontation between a series of diverse leisure experiences and an active technological landscape within a single gesture. As the ground subsides below the path, the building's position measures the process of decay below. / by Elizabeth M. Nguyen. / M.Arch.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-72). / Tactility holds a unique position in modem architectural discourse. Oftentimes, it has been evoked "as an alternative to two-dimensional vision. However, the notion of tactility sometimes denotes ambiguous and often conflicting meanings. Since the 1970s, tactility has been mainly associated with a series of phenomenological notions such as place, rooted-ness, corporeality, intimacy, sensuousness, and craftsmanship. The noted Swiss architect, Peter Zumthor (b.1943), follows in this vein by conceptualizing tactility in terms of intimate contact between the occupant's bodily organs and the surfaces of architecture. The characteristics of Zumthor's architecture cannot, however, be exhausted by these considerations. I argue that his buildings are just as exceptional in terms of their spatial conception as they are in their material realization. In this sense, Zumthor's emphasis on "tactility" in his architecture does not do justice to his own buildings. To fully appreciate them, this thesis attempts to go beyond a mere equivalency between tactility and appreciation of surface to develop a richer and more complex notion of tactility. I will argue that more seminal, spatial conceptions of tactility can be found in modem aesthetic discourse, particularly, in the two motifs of "tactility as materiality" and "tactility as movement," as articulated in the works of Alois Riegl and Walter Benjamin, respectively. I will attempt to show that these motifs have their correlative expressions in the spatial languages of Adolf Loos's "Raumplan" and Le Corbusier's "Plan Libre." Finally, I will show how Zumthor's architecture, particularly his Thermal Baths in Vals (1986-96), Switzerland, successfully hybridizes these two spatial languages and thus the two motifs of tactility as well. / by Tonghoon Lee. / S.M.

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2012. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Page 70 blank. Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 69). / Surface in the city is scarce. As a typical day in the city progresses, the inhabitants' surface demands transform. A children's playground goes unused at night, the valuable surface should be re-adapted for an alternative use, say a parking space for the neighborhoods drivers. This project seeks to transform the urban surface of the city, by deploying variable mobile autonomous infrastructures. The furnitures are programmed to be responsive to the temporal demands of the current city. They change position and rearrange themselves for the three major episodes of daily life, Morning and Afternoon, Commute, and Evening. Physically the furnitures transform the city surface. Mobility in neighborhoods is dictated by their placement and type. Consequently the furniture's placement is dependent on a neighborhood's profile. The mobile infrastructures are capable of providing a safety buffer from traffic, creating new major transportation routes, and creating a new temporary program to a space. For example, a schoolyard in the Morning and Afternoon, would be protected from traffic by a buffer of infrastructures on the exterior perimeter. Meanwhile mobile sandboxes, sports fields, etc. occupy the interior pocket of space created. The urban surface is also marked by a social transformation. This model reinforces building boundaries as private space, and any exterior surface (backyard, driveway, alley, street, sidewalk, parking lot, etc.) as inhabiting the public realm. Thusly the city is left available as social space, which is constantly adapting to inhabitants needs. / by Cynthia Latortue. / S.B.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1984. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-152). / The study views the city as a system of built forms and spatial relations which is additively produced over time through successive transformations resulting from redefinition by different social groups of their physical domain. This framework of thought is applied and explored in a detailed case study. In the introduction, the topic and the basic ideas of the approach are set. The choice of Thessaloniki as a working example is explained and the concepts and structure of its analysis are presented. An introduction to the city is given by an outline of its history and presentation of its privileged geographic location and topography. Historical periods corresponding to circles of the city development are individually analyzed in sections covering historical context, prevailing functions, description of built form and concluding remarks where a synthetic view on change factors and transformation outcomes is taken. The division in periods, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern, traces the successive rebuilding of the city upon the same territory from its foundation in the 4th century B.C. until the recent past. In the conclusion, the ideas evoked by the analysis are reorganized around the themes of permanency, change and their dialectic synthesis in the phenomena of city transformation. / by Ecaterini Malachtari. / M.S.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references. / GRAF-ASQ (GRaphical And Fully Accessible Structure-based Queries) is a graphical query language designed to provide flexible, wide access to data via the use of n-tuples and Prolog concepts. It is also designed to provide the ability to view the database schema graphically and to store queries which can be retrieved and from which more complex queries can be built. The system is built to interface with MacDRAW so that it can store and retrieve information connected to graphical objects. The system is independent of MacDRAW, however. It accepts data in a general format that other programs can give it. Implemented so far is the ability to view the schema with different central foci and to make atomic attributes invisible. Also implemented is the ability to get data about graphical objects from MacDRAW, including type and simple attribute information, and to query and search for data via menues. If the data found relates to MacDRAW objects, those objects can be highlighted within MacDRAW. The graphical query language itself has not been implemented. / Funded, in part, by Apple Computer, Inc., Educational Marketing Division. / by Nancy Lynn Peters. / M.S.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2013. / 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. Page 75 blank. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-74). / The ecology of contemporary journalism is experiencing a power shift from traditional media such as newspapers and TV news to social media. This shift is bringing a crisis of professional journalism in the traditional media and the emergence of public journalism based on social media. The Institute of Optimism for Professional Journalism in the Social Media Era (hereafter "lOPS") is a new institutional building for a professional broadcasting organization. The aim of the thesis is to find a new spatial medium to reformulate the function of professional journalism through a systematic friction with public journalism in the process of news production. The thesis deals with the imminent deterioration of the broadcasting station through two phased strategies. First, the thesis studies the trajectory of the relationship between the sphere of professional journalism and the sphere of the public in the broadcasting building. Based on this research, the new type of relationship envisaged by the project is formulated. Second, the thesis addresses systematic friction between professional journalism and public journalism through the architectural interfaces in a tectonic manner. Subsequently, the synthesis between the logic of the new relationship and the logic of transparency derived from the interfaces is utilized as the foundation for the construction of an institutional building generating optimal alternative journalism. / by Jin Kyu Lee. / M.Arch.

Thesis: M. Arch., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2017. / Page 153 blank. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (page 152). / What if stakeholders, architects, and developers/bureaucrats could be in a conversation about preservation? Community heritage in China is in great danger because of the lack of authority, financial support, knowledge of preservation, and requests for development. Local residents, students, and citizens want to preserve the history and living environment of the community but bureaucrats want to demolish entire communities and rebuild for economic development. Architects do not often have enough input and rarely collaborate, while preservationists try to save every piece of historical heritage. Thus, a platform is proposed, here, to bring together voices from all the relevant participants, to democratically communicate between politicians and ordinary people, to create multiple architectural proposals for development reference based on crowd sourced materials. Furthermore, to establish also an experienceable digital world, archived from the evidence uploaded by stakeholders of heritages that are marked by bureaucrats for demolition. In the end, win or lose, the stakeholders will have a digital archive and exploring tool of the former building. / by Xu Zhang. / M. Arch.

Thesis: S.M. in Building Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2017. / 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 81-84). / Geometric patterns, pioneered centuries ago as a dominant form of ornamentation in Islamic architecture, represent an abundant source of possible topologies and geometries that can be explored in the preliminary design of discrete structures. This diverse design space motivates the coupling between Islamic patterns and the form finding of funicular grid shells for which structural performance is highly affected by topology and geometry. This thesis examines one such pattern through a parametric, performance-driven framework in the context of conceptual design, when many alternatives are being considered. Form finding is conducted via the force density method, which is augmented with the addition of a force density optimization loop to enable grid shell height selection. A further modification allows for force densities to be scaled according to the initial member lengths, introducing sensitivity to pattern geometry in the final form-found structures. The results attest to the viable synergy between architectural and structural objectives through grid shells that perform as well as, or better than, quadrilateral grid shells. Historic and cultural patterns therefore present design opportunities that both expand the conventional grid shell design vocabulary and offer designers an alternative means of referencing vernacular traditions in the modern built environment, through a structural engineering lens. Key words: grid shell, structural topology, Islamic pattern, parametric design, performance driven design, force density method, form finding. / by Noor K. Khouri. / S.M. in Building Technology

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-53). / An extended sense of the wrap of a fabric is the fiber or essential, a foundation or base. This thesis sprouts from a fascination with the structure of fabric and the loom. On one level, it deals with the tectonics of the woven fabric. On another, it deals with all environment for both process and product (production and display) -- a programmatic arrangement of independent industries but not associated with large scale displays. This thesis explores these two tectonic environments and weaves a series of spaces to create and celebrate the sari -- a stretch of fabric that is simultaneously utilitarian, empowerment, cultural, social and art object. The various elements explored in the research included the heritage of the sari, the Important/image of the sari to women from various backgrounds, the structure of the loom and the methods involved with the process from conception to finish -- pinning, spooling. dyeing, weaving, display and retail. The program aims to create, for the growing South Asian community ill Queens who are caught in a liminal space, a place to celebrate their culture and for visitors to learn more about it through the medium of one of the oldest crafts in South Asia. / by Naveem M. Mowlah. / M.Arch.

Thesis (M.Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 41-42). / Division within a city is commonplace, if not inevitable, whether geographically, politically, or by income, race or ethnicity. The extreme environment of polarized cities therefore has a significant relevance within urbanism and the study of the built environment of cities in general. The physical markers of dichotomization imposed on the urban landscape, whether in the form of walls, roads, fences or zones of vacant or patrolled land, become a significant presence and extremely meaningful element within the segregated city, and very much so in any future transformation or redevelopment of the city. The question of how to deal with these physical manifestations of conflict and segregation is a key issue within any post-conflict reconstruction and development within these cities, and is the main concern of this thesis proposal. Belfast, in the province of Northern Ireland, is one such polarized city, with the Peacelines manifesting the sectarian tensions between neighbouring communities and the conflict at large. These Peacelines, and surrounding interface areas are the site of this thesis, which attempts to deal with many of the issues associated with architectural intervention in, and the future possible urban morphology of the polarized city, in a specific and complex urban situation. / by Pamela M. Campbell. / M.Arch.