Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 160-163). / Malaysia is now undergoing rapid economic development, bringing swift and often drastic changes to the built environment. Major cultural changes, the effects of which may not be fully appreciated for a number of years, have also accompanied development. As "modern" construction techniques displace traditional methods, aspects of an intrinsically Malaysian way of life may be lost forever, for vernacular construction has evolved to provide a setting for the intimate and delicate intertwining of social environment with built environment. This thesis examines the traditional Malay settlement, the kampong, and presents an application of observed principles in a design for a contemporary musing development. Descriptions are drawn largely from personal observation, and are given in terms of the cultural-physical interrelationship whenever applicable. Attention is given to the transformations which have occurred as the kampong (a traditionally rural form) has been introduced to the urban context. A hypothetical housing development in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia' s largest city, illustrates the adaptation of traditional ideas and methodologies to the modern urban setting. For the sake of economics, as well as for the betterment of the environment, the role of the architect is confined to providing an infrastructure, leaving infill to the residents. Typical units are designed however, to serve as suggestions to the occupants and builders. It is intended that the thesis itself will offer further ideas. / by Teck Neo Choo. / M.Arch.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: p. 108-113. / Architecture is not just flashy design, nor is its sole aim to determine what dispositions of form are appropriate for all people for all time. Sometimes the architect must take a more humble, less visible role. Participation of the people who inhabit a place is key to maintaining the environment. For such participation to occur, an architect must enable inhabitants to exercise a wide play of choice in the use of a built environment and of change in the adaptation of its physical structure. Such characteristics of a place contribute to its tractability. The objective of this thesis is to outline design characteristics which contribute to the tractability of housing, using the rowhouse type as a spring point. This study is grounded in a behavioral perspective. Dimensional criteria are generated using behavior patterns, in an attempt to avoid stereotypes inherent in defining household activities by rooms. Activity settings and use scenarios are vehicles for examining two instructive examples of housing. Relevant characteristics are summarized and employed in the design of rowhouses for a Cambridge site, to simulate future conditions as scarcity of natural resources brings about concern for intensification of urban land use. / by Charles Allen Craig. / M.Arch.

Thesis. 1975. M.Arch.A.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / M.Arch.A.S.

Thesis. 1978. M.Arch--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 123-128. / M.Arch

Thesis. 1977. M.Arch.A.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography : p. 103. / by Loren Ahles. / M.Arch.A.S.

Thesis (M.Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: p. 236-239. / by Carol Jean Boemer. / M.Arch.

Thesis. 1975. M.Arch.A.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / Bibliography: leaf 62. / by Shyng Miin Chen. / M.Arch.A.S.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references. / The objective of this thesis is to understand the term " HOUSING" as a verb. This implies that housing is a process which includes three major stages. First, the planning POLICY stage determines distributions of resources, methods of production, and programs of activities. Second, the architectural DESIGN stage transforms these objectives into physical environments through technological means and spatial articulations. Third, the INHABITATION stage involves management of the resulted environment, and its use by inhabitants. The quality of the end product and the user's satisfaction with the product depend on who is making decisions in the three stages. In modern Western urban centers, the results of two centuries of industrialization and urbanization, housing for low-income groups is subsidized by government at federal and local levels. Urban social housing projects, with few exceptions, are products of a hierarchical structuring of the three stages of housing. This structure is possible only when it is controlled by a centralized authority. The problems of this rigidity in urban social housing are manifested in its financial strain on public resources, management crisis, and rapid obsolescence. Also, these problems reflect a mismatch between the needs define d by public agencies and the actual needs of the people housed. Exceptional cases to this mismatch reveal conflicts and contradictions in the present system of housing production, and suggest alternatives to achieve a dialectic and productive interaction between all three stages (POLICY , DESIGN AND INHABITATION) in the housing process. Two major issues addressed in this thesis are the characteristics of alternative housing processes and the role of the architect in such processes. / by Lawrence Kai-Leung Cheng. / M.Arch.

Thesis. 1976. M.Arch.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Rotch. / Bibliography: leaves 41-42. / M.Arch.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning; and, (M. Arch. in Advanced Studies)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH / Bibliography: leaf 81. / by Jose A. Aldrete-Haas. / M.C.P.