Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 92-95). / I present a novel drawing system for composing and rendering perspective scenes. The proposed approach uses a projective two-dimensional representation for primitives rather than a conventional three-dimensional description. This representation is based on points that lie on the surface of a unit sphere centered at the viewpoint. It allows drawings to be composed with the same ease as traditional illustrations, while providing many of the advantages of a three-dimensional model. I describe a range of user-interface tools and interaction techniques that give the drawing system its three-dimensional-like capabilities. The system provides vanishing point guides and perspective grids to aid in drawing freehand strokes and composing perspective scenes. The system also has tools for intuitive navigation of a virtual camera, as well as methods for manipulating drawn primitives so that they appear to undergo three-dimensional translations and rotations. The new representation also supports automatic shading of primitives using either realistic or non-photorealistic styles. My system supports drawing and shading of extrusion surfaces with automatic hidden surface removal and emphasized silhouettes. Casting shadows from an infinite light source is also possible with minimal user intervention. I describe a method for aligning a sketch drawn outside the system using its vanishing points, allowing the integration of computer sketching and freehand sketching on paper in an iterative manner. Photographs and scanned drawings are applied to drawing primitives using conventional texture-mapping techniques, thereby enriching drawings and providing another way of incorporating hand-drawn images. I demonstrate the system with a variety of drawings. / by Osama S. Tolba. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1986. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 87). / The objective of this study is to provide a general understanding for guiding urban development in secondary cities in Lebanon. An existing site in the Byblos Metropolitan Area is utilized as a reference to this study. The study includes a general description of the context of land development in Lebanon. It identifies phenomena that directly affect the development process in Lebanon. The study then addresses questions of design, planning and the need for public intervention in Lebanon. The study attempts to develop a set of general approaches/directions which can help provide a framework for decisions regarding the usefulness of specific kinds of public intervention in urban development. / by Avedis Asdourian. / M.S.

Thesis (M.Arch.) Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture, 1950. / Accompanying drawings held by MIT Museum. / Bibliography: leaves 52-53. / by Raymond Salim Ghosn. / M.Arch.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2014. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 140-143). / This thesis examines the Lahore Improvement Trust in relation to the urban development of the city of Lahore in mid-twentieth century. LIT was responsible for most major urban development in the city from 1936 up until 1975, when it metamorphosed into the Lahore Development Authority. However, its impact on Lahore's urban history is surprisingly under-recognized, and this may be due to the relative failure of the body itself in delivering a large part of its mandate, despite being responsible for major morphological changes in the city. The formation of LIT, like other Improvement Trusts in India, was based on a real need for planned urban development of a rapidly expanding city. This thesis argues that the structure of such a body was, however, based on conceptual frameworks that were introduced in India by numerous different British institutions, with the aim of either 'testing out' or for furthering a particular colonial agenda. These inherent structural beliefs were carried through numerous cycles of 'reform' before being applied onto the Improvement Trust network which, this study argues, followed a strict path dependent paradigm in a late colonial institution such as LIT. Using the annual reports of LIT, I show that this was evident in the modus operandi of the body, to the point that despite being able to implement individual projects that can be considered successful to a certain extent, it failed to develop or implement a coherent urban vision. Projects under LIT were fragmented instances in the larger urban morphology of the city, which failed to respond to the more pressing problems in the city. Its failure to register itself as a viable body was further exacerbated by the body's incapability to deal with issues such as housing shortage in the city. This was particularly evident in the face of a major shock as Partition in 1947. A huge influx of migrants from East Punjab and riots within the city that caused major infrastructural damage within the city meant that the deficit of the body carried itself exponentially beyond the event of Partition in 1947. That the Trust exhibited institutional inertia well beyond the Partition in its mode of operating explains the weak progress it made beyond that event, and its eventual dissolution into Lahore Development Authority in 1975. Hence, while most projects implemented by the Trust were moderately successful, the lack of a holistic urban plan, a result of both structural (internal) and situational (external) problems, was where LIT failed to deliver causing it to leave an ineffectual mark on Lahore's urban history. / by Hala Bashir Malik. / S.M.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Thesis. 1974. M.Arch. / MICROFICHE COPY ALSO AVAILABLE IN ROTCH LIBRARY. / Bibliography: leaves 249-251. / M.Arch.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2018. / 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 92-93). / Historically, streets have served a range of functions, primarily those associated with traffic circulation and social interaction. However, in the 20th century, the street design became centered on traffic movement and maximum space for automobiles, while public lives were marginalized to narrow sidewalks. Contemporary urban planners and designers have acknowledged that both livability and efficiency are indispensable components to a city's sustainable development. However, to achieve them both is a difficult task with the conventional dominance of automobiles. This thesis explores the mutual influence of urban design and transport technology, and offers a solution to rethink streets as urban surfaces, which integrate traffic infrastructure and the public realm with the application of shared autonomous vehicles. The thesis presents a new design paradigm based on a three-prong approach: 1) design of shared surfaces for pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles as a continuous public living room; and (2) inclusion of efficient surfaces that provide dedicated space for shared vehicles and cyclists to collect and distribute people at a faster speed; and (3) inclusion of the transition zone between shared surfaces and efficient surfaces. Another feature of this thesis is a new approach to the design of these autonomous vehicles that combines the self-driving technology of autonomous vehicles with new robotic features that tell vehicles when to reduce speed to share surfaces with pedestrians, and when to resume speed on dedicated surfaces. Using South Boston Waterfront as a case study, the thesis shows that cities do not have to remain under the dominance of vehicles; and that urban life can gain new spatial integrity that serves the needs of people and, at the same time, responds to the realities of urban mobility. / by Daya Zhang. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 50-55). / As a recently designated Special Economic Zone in 2001 and Jordan's only port, Aqaba has been experiencing a major economic boom and rapid development at a scale previously unprecedented in Jordan. Under the governance of the Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) investments and growth so far have largely focused on new developments bypassing the more distressed parts of the city. Community development and upgrading efforts in Aqaba have thus far fallen short. Efforts are scattered, jurisdictions are unclear, and there is a definite lack of a coherent strategy and clear mechanisms for community development within the Aqaba Special Economic Zone (ASEZ). This thesis examines the Aqaba Old Town critically and suggests developing it as a model for community upgrading and revitalization within ASEZ. Through examining the existing stakeholders and roles, I arrive at a suggested strategy for the Old Town that would serve as model for community upgrading within ASEZ. / by Dalia Z. Al-Husseini. / S.M.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 28). / An archetype for nostalgia withholds moments, suspending time in a state between memory and anticipation. Gravity plays an essential role in creating time in architecture: it gives physicality to the transience, allows time to be experienced with one's senses and imagination. In that sense, time is neither metaphorical and prescriptive, but physical and personal. Using the physical context of Fort Point Channel as the stimulus for intellectual thinking, the thesis project strives to discover how the idea of an urban ruin can inspire new forms of spatial-temporal experience. The physical and spiritual qualities of the Greek temples, in particular the Doric Order, are analyzed in order to understand the fundamentals in architecture such as Absence, Gravity and the Order of space and matter. Through the resurrection of time and memory in architecture, the new archetype allows one to become closer in touch with his senses, thus finding purpose to his own existence. / by Danny C. Chan. / M.Arch.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references. / A study was carried out to explore methods for improving the understanding and practice of design as a means of self-discovery, intersubjective dialogue and cultural development. Using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a laboratory and case study, a series of interventions and observations were conducted and recorded. Key concerns were the dialectical relationships between individuals and organization, freedom and language, play and structure, dialogue and community, design and technological systems. The hypothesis was that the pervasive effect of post-structural thinking in architectural theory and design education have created an environment that does not adequately prepare students to explore, engage and communicate personal values in their work, particularly in relation to the immediate contexts in which they find themselves. It also posited that an emphasis on technological systems rather than tectonic and social skill building becomes an additional obstacle to dialogical self-expression and cultural development. The indeterminacy of this hypothesis lead to a series of participatory design proposals with the intent to impact the community context of the Institute. / (cont.) One of these proposals, a small cafe, was structurally implemented and became a reference point for observation and theoretical analysis. The research concluded that architecture studies would be invigorated by embracing the specific and multiple structures of communication that architecture offers - embodied in the concept of symbolic action. These studies should also include the practice of dialogue: personal, conflictual and poetic self-expression as means of contextual transformation and transcendence. This process was best encapsulated in the notion of design as rhetoric - a play of actors engaging contextual structure, personal values and a belief in human communality. / by B. Scott Francisco. / S.M.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-76). / Late twentieth-century housing, formed by economic and internally generated functional problems rather than by limitations imposed by traditional street pattern and block size, is fundamentally anti-urban. Modern American housing of the post-World War II era, like any complex social phenomenon, was influenced by multiple forces. Among the most salient are single proprietary control of large parcels of urban land and pre-World War II stylistic trends / social ideals, both of which were reinforced by revisions to zoning regulations. The traditional relationship of the individual dwelling to the block and the street (as well as the individual to the community, as represented by a parallel, formal urban organization) is altered as a result of a changed urban housing configuration. Although the urban characteristics of traditional eighteenth- and nineteenth-century housing blocks remain viable, the dwellings of which they were composed were products of an economic and social structure whose housing requirements are no longer appropriate in contemporary culture. Modem housing, not limited by normative street and block configuration fulfills some of the economic and programmatic requirements of contemporary society, but because it is inherently anti-urban its presence is ultimately destructive of civic life. Analysis of traditional residential urban blocks in terms of quantifiable urban characteristics provides a tool with which to measure and generate programatically modern housing determined by traditional urban constraints. / by Elizabeth N. Kamell. / M.S.