Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-55). / In the processing of modernization, local architecture identities are diminishing in Kaiping, my home county in Canton Province, China. This thesis is searching for new architectural features that are based on the local climate, social rules, economic strength and modem technologies. New architecture identities should not be the rearrangement of Chinese architectural motifs. In contrast, they are the continuity of the essence of vernacular architecture and new spirits of modernization. Western modernization in Kaiping brings in the so called "international architecture style." It dominates the county's planning and architectural design. It is no doubt that architectural design reflects the changing times, yet different cultures in different regions and environments are at various presents. Therefore, architecture design should not have only one solution. Vernacular architecture in Kaiping County has its own characteristics such as the narrow alleys, small courtyards and watchtowers. They are not the same as the courtyard houses in Beijing, nor other regions in the world. Consequently, many factors that had influenced the local vernacular architecture have diminished or changed while the economic reform brings new perspectives in politics, social lives and family rules. Bridging the gap between the past and present in Kaiping's regional architecture is not as simple as copying other countries' architecture. The project investigates the past, interprets the present and anticipates the near future of Kaiping County architecture. A 200 meter by 250 meter city block next to a vernacular village two miles from the Old County Town is the test site for this approach. It is a housing development project which focuses on the relationships between rural areas and urban, public and private, community and family and environment and inhabitants. Both a master plan and a prototype house will be emphasized in details to examine relevant issues that evoke new local architecture identities. / by Lian Quan Zhen. / M.Arch.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1986. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AN ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 140-141. / by Rodrigo Brana. / M.S.

Thesis: M. Arch., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2014. / 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 178-180). / The thesis examines the social-political issues resulting from the immense expansion of mundane housing developments in China under a totalitarian state. Initially influenced by the Soviet Union in the 1950s, the four to six-story slab housing blocks became a prevalent model for efficiency and basic welfare. Subsequent housing codes that strictly control spacing, orientation, density, and dimensions have become another driving force of monotonous housing developments. Both the public and private spaces follow the same conformity. The privatized residential blocks offer little public engagement, isolating their inhabitants from one another. Meanwhile, public activities have been institutionalized and paradoxical to the socialist welfare agenda, are also commercialized. Besides being machines for the state, the super structures are essentially bourgeois. Using the slab housing as a backdrop for the urban playhouse, seven groups of follies are deployed to liberate the housing theater from their respective institutional forms. The playhouse seeks to dramatize the nuances of everyday urban life in order to establish new spatial and social relationships. By blurring the boundaries between public and private, actors and spectators, life and art, the acts create the unexpected juxtaposition of events, a continuation of the discourse of heterogeneous space explored by Bernard Tschumi. It is also an exploration of "a theater without theater," an on-going pursuit of avant-garde theaters that call for a collective creation. Additionally, the architectural drama can be seen as a political commentary on current Chinese society. Besides their functional usages, the follies form ruptures or frictions against conformity, the conventional, or convinced. By performing the state of being, we can re-evaluate our living environment, regenerate awareness, and reactivate our desires and dreams. / by Feifei Feng. / M. Arch.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-74). / This thesis examines the underlying issues innate to the design process of developing architectural solutions using the digital for "making" architecture, focusing on architectural production. It proposes an alternative method for fabricating architecture that supports a fast, inexpensive design process using a combination of digital modeling (explicit or with generative methods) and computer controlled fabrication machines. A series of explorations and studies are conducted to establish a procedure for the integration of representational techniques and fabrication processes into methods for digital making. The thesis also suggests how computer-controlled fabrication can be integrated into design exploration, by embedding activities of digital making into the design process. / by Sameer Kashyap. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2000. / Vitae. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-80). / An exploratory study was conducted to determine the strategic advantage that firms may gain by using project extranets on real estate development projects. Eight organizations were interviewed to determine their priorities, risk preferences, and needs regarding project communication technologies. Interviews were conducted with Corporate Owner/Occupiers, Owner/Non Occupiers, and Institutional Owner/Occupiers. The hypothesis tested was that owners and developers of real estate were looking to use project extranets to gain a competitive advantage. Research results indicated a resounding 'no' to our hypothesis. No owners or developers are currently looking at extranets as a source of competitive advantage at this time. However, the research data did provide insights into what is necessary for the technology to deliver for organizations to view a project extranet as a source of competitive advantage in the future. Owners were segmented into categories based on risk profile and needs regarding project extranets. Corporate Owner/Occupiers with real estate support needed assistance with predictability and execution. Corporate Owner/Occupiers of Manufacturing operations needed increases in speed. Institutional Owner/Occupiers needed certainty. Finally Owner/Non-Occupiers needed mitigation of market risks. / by Ryan Carley [and] Matthew Robinson. / S.M.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 82-83). / This thesis relates architectural practices to intelligent use of resources and the reuse of derelict spaces. The initial investigation of rammed earth as a building material is followed by site-specific operations at the courtyard of MIT building N51 and on sites located along a three mile stretch of Interstate 93 in Dorchester. / by Joseph Dahmen. / M.Arch.

Thesis (M.Arch)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1987. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: p. 167-170. / Architecture is a dialogue. It is a communication between those who design and the society which they design in. The two are inseparable. The role of the designer, which I have chosen as an architect, is that of a communicator. A communicator participates in a design dialogue, which he may also initiate. He also responds and listens well to what society says. The success of the built environment comes through an improvement of this architectural dialogue. This thesis addresses the process of a public dialogue of design by initially viewing the participants in the conversation. The architect in society is an examination of the changing role of the profession of architecture, leading to many of the issues regarding communication. Society in architecture is the larger world which influences design of all forms. Design is not an exclusive ability of the design professions, but rather an element of all society. This dialogue is then studied in the context of Copley Square, located in Boston, Massachusetts. When looking at Copley Square, the physical forms are not the only reason for its success or failure, although they do play a significant part. In both designs resulting from the national competitions held in 1966 and 1983, the designers were of exceptional merit. Both designs met the objectives of their respective programs very well. What is notably different is the process which each solution was arrived at, the interchange between designer and society. Sasaki, Dawson, DeMay Associates, designer in 1966, had relatively few guidelines and very little input from the community for which they were designing. Dean Abbott, of Clarke & Rapuano, designer in 1983, was responding to a clear set of guidelines reflecting community concerns. He then proceeded to work with the local community in a set process to further articulate the design of Copley Square. Copley Square represents an example of what a design dialogue can achieve, both emotionally and physically. From this, all designers, whether professional or not, can learn. / by Paul Gerard May. / M.Arch

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 163-165). / Effective design of energy-efficient buildings requires attention to energy issues during the preliminary stages of design. To aid in the early consideration of a building's future energy usage, a simplified building energy analysis model was developed. Using this model, a new computer program was written in C/C++ to calculate annual heat and cooling loads for residential buildings and to provide information about the relative importance of load contributions from the different building components. Estimates were made regarding the uncertainties of parameter inputs to the model, such as material properties, heat transfer coefficients and infiltration rates. The new computer program was used to determine the sensitivity of annual heat and cooling loads to model input uncertainties. From the results of these sensitivity studies, it was estimated that the overall uncertainties in the annual sensible heat and cooling load predictions amount to approximately ±30% and ±40%, respectively, for two buildings studied in Boston, Massachusetts. Further model simplification techniques were implemented that reduced annual load calculation times on a 180 MHz computer to about 8 and 12 seconds for a lightweight and massive building, respectively. The error introduced by these simplifications was approximately 4% and 10% for the annual sensible heat and cooling loads, well below the overall uncertainties in the load predictions. Comparison studies were performed with this new computer program and Energy-10. Overall, good agreement between the programs' annual load predictions was found. / by Henry C. Spindler. / M.S.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Thesis. 1973. M.Arch.A.S. / MICROFICHE COPY ALSO AVAILABLE IN ROTCH LIBRARY. / Bibliography: leaves 162-164. / M.Arch.A.S.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-63). / by James Everett Samsel. / M.S.