No description available.

No description available.

The complex panorama of the Mediterranean area in the fourteenth century compelled Venice to modify its economic patterns. The city started to pay attention to the Italian mainland, developing its agriculture and other industries. But the Veneto was marshy and needed to be drained and improved. The Venetian and mainland aristocracy gradually abandoned commerce for agriculture and land reclamation. Andrea Palladio built many villas for them from which they could administer their estates, transforming the marshes of the Veneto into sites for the villas. Those villas became the perfect place for retirement and contemplation.

Urbanization in 20th century Brazil has been characterized by a large rural-urban migration. The reinforcement, throughout the national territory, of an urban life-style brought about by this growing urbanization has somehow decreased the cultural distance between the country's urban and rural environments. In spite of that, cultural differences between the two environments do exist, and it is not wrong to assume that a cultural change occurs along the rural-urban migration process. The present research deals with the issue of urbanization and cultural change in Brazil. It focuses specifically on informal urban housing, built by rural immigrants to the city. This was done through a case study of an unplanned settlement, in Natal RN, Northeast Brazil. The study points out the dwellings' physical references to both tradition, that is, to the rural world from where the dwellers have come, and to change due to the urban environment, where they now live. The study also analyzes the socio-cultural causes for tradition and change of the dwellings. Its main finding is that this whole process leads to the formation of a hybrid type of urban house.

No description available.

Among the few matrilineal communities from around the world were the Nairs of the south-western coast, also known as the Malabar coast, of India. The system of matrilineal consanguinity and descent practiced by the Nairs was remarkable for its complex kinship organization and joint family set up, and the unique status---social and economic---it afforded to the women of the community. / These factors were reflected in the spatial morphology of the traditional Nair house, an assemblage of four blocks, called the nalukettu. The different structural identities of the tarawad institution; the comparative latitude and the bias of inheritance that women enjoyed; the codes of marriage, interaction and avoidance; and the observation of rituals, an integral part of the cosmology and temporal cycle of the system, all find expression in the layout and spatial organization. On the whole, the geometry of the Nair nalukettu was a graphic metaphor of the social and behavioral patterns of the Nair community overlaid on the Hindu way of life, as interpreted by the community. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

No description available.

No description available.

Building with glass, Mies van der Rohe expressed his singular vision of glass---almost nothing. Among the few things that remain in his minimalist domestic space, the body of a female sculpture holds conspicuous opacity. To seek the signification of this opacity in the transparency of Mies's architecture, this thesis analyzes his design drawings and the photographs of his buildings through a phenomenological reading. The juxtaposition and a parallel development between the presence of the opaque body and the view of glass throughout the evolution of his glass house are discovered. The discovery brings to light the finding that the opaque body is an irreducible substance in fulfilling Mies's ideal of modern house. This opacity in transparency reveals the maternal materiality that is the essence of human dwelling. Three chapters constitute this thesis, Chapter 1 introduces Mies's vision of glass and its representations; chapter 2 examines various views of the architect's glass house designs in drawings and photographs; chapter 3 explores the significance of the inherent opacity in Mies's design philosophy of modern house.

The topic of this thesis is the Domestic Architecture of the Natal Architect, William Street-Wilson (1856-1928) and spans the period from 1889 to 1913. It is based on the original drawing collection which can be found in the Barrie Bierman Architectural Library, University of Natal. Street-Wilson carried out his architectural training in England, and the study sets out to identify the stylistic changes which took place within the Arts and Crafts Movement in England, to establish any English precedent in Street-Wilson domestic architecture in Natal. In order to contexturalise Street-Wilson's domestic architecture in Natal, an overview of the political, social, economic and architectural background is given prior to, and during the year of Street-Wilson's arrival in 1887. The drawing collection is set chronologically during the period of 1889-1913, against the political, social and economic background, in order to study the effect of such influences on the Street-Wilson's houses. The study defines and identifies the different components which compose the plan and then carries out an analysis of the plan, form and style of the different categories of house types, namely the typical single storey, villa/double storey and semi-detached house, to highlight the evolution of the house type from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. Since the verandah is the common thread throughout the drawing collection, a special study explores its possible origin and application in a colonial context. Examples of detail drawings have been extracted from the drawing collection to illustrate construction techniques and typical detailing employed by Street-Wilson and his partners, accompanied by a brief history of building materials to contexturalise materials within the studied period. The evolution of services, pertaining to comfort and sanitation, have been examined and applied to the houses designed by Street-Wilson. / Thesis (M.Arch.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1996.