Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 71). / The mill buildings of New England add a unique dimension to the heritage and identity of the region. Today some of these buildings continue to function as the site of industry, others have been converted to commercial or residential uses, and quite a few have been left to decompose. This thesis proposes some alternatives for converting 19th century mill buildings to residential use. It examines mills of brick bearing-wall construction with respect to their organization and materials, and looks critically at several contemporary mill conversions. It then concentrates specifically on showing how the exterior brick wall can be transformed in order to make decent places to live out of buildings designed for a very different purpose - industrial production. / Paul Pressman. / M.Arch.

This study is intended to provide the archaeologist with a solid understanding of the use of bricks and mortar in colonial New England and to examine the construction of New England colonial residential structures to determine if attributes exist that would allow the development of a regional diachronic or synchronic typology for aid in dating the structures either relatively or absolutely. This paper examines the technology involved in the produc ion of bricks and lime mortar, the construction of seventeenth and eighteenth century foundations, and the social environment that influenced the use of bricks. From the information presented in the paper, the archaeologist should gain an understanding of bricks as artifacts in the New England colonial landscape in order to improve the manner in which b licks are investigated and change the way in which archaeologists view, and therefore r -,cord information about, bricks, mortar, and foundations in Colonial New England. / Department of Anthropology