Thesis (M.Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-84). / In our increasingly wired society, the numbers of people who work from their homes is rapidly growing. However, few have the luxury of living in a space designed for office work and as such suffer from a number of problems, including feelings of isolation, lack of boundaries between home and work, and feelings of disconnection from the outside world. This thesis addresses these issues through the design of a number of architectural elements which can be applied to a living space. Through program layout, window designs and screens, the building lengthens and shortens psychological distances between the homeworker's rest and work, and between the homeworker and nature. As different professions have very different programmatic needs, this research will culminate in the application of these elements to a building for one profession, the telecommuter. The work is based on interviews and observations I have conducted with a number of telecommuters and the final design addresses their needs and concerns. / by Stephanie N. Nussbaum Kress. / M.Arch.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references. / This thesis is a study of the expressive quality of a skyscraper. Because of their size and conspicuousness, skyscrapers are simultaneously exposed to several different levels of"contexts, which are mainly defined by the distance between the viewer and the tall buildings. Awareness of these contexts is important in understanding or evaluating skyscraper design. Since the people are the judge of whether or not a building is "in context," the built form should be reflecting the things that they value, and peoples' value in turn change from time to time and from place to place. Five cities, Chicago, New York, Houston, Boston and San Francisco were chosen for case studies, mainly because of their diversity in different contexts for skyscrapers. By defining the various contexts in which the skyscrapers stand, in different cities and different times, and through examination and evaluation of the design solutions devised by the architects (and planners, entrepreneurs and the public), this study attempts to explain what it means for a skyscraper to be in context. / by Kazuo Kobayashi. / M.S.

Thesis: S.M. in Art, Culture and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2014. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 55-56). / Through the creation of an art installation called Local Warming, and by analyzing energy-related art works by other artists, I was able to develop a methodology in my attempt to answer the question of what can be done about anthropogenic threats to humankind. Local Warming is a large array of 72 collimated infrared emitting robotic heaters that provide a "bubble" of heat energy around the user as they pass through the installation. This project serves as an example of how energy-technology development can seem threatening and can also be interpreted as the exact opposite: a system that provides us with direct control over our own energy. This serves as a metaphor for our relationship with energy on a global scale. While we may feel that anthropogenic existential threats, such as global warming, are beyond our control, I would argue that these threats are actually opportunities to improve our own understanding of the universe around us. Ultimately, the presence of a global risk can act as a common-cause around which humankind can rally and thrive. More specifically, my primary interest is provoking a conversation on how anthropogenic existential-risks can be thwarted. My methodology has five repeating stages, in no particular order: identifying motivations, creating physical artwork, developing or borrowing a framework, establishing provocations, and reviewing the artwork of other artists who are creating similar work. For my motivations I make assertions that I do not intend to prove such as "human life is important" or "extinction is an undesirable outcome." The purpose of stating my motivations is not to create an argument about the meaning of life, but to help the reader understand my artistic practice as it relates to the topic of anthropogenic existential risks. The creation of a framework serves as a rudder to help guide the creative process. The questions that arise from the creation of this framework are then used as provocations. These provocations need not be iron clad or consistent in their logical makeup, and they often conflict in a way that produces tension. Lastly, the review of works by other artists enables me to put my own work into context. / by Andrew Leigh Christie. / S.M. in Art, Culture and Technology

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2014. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 76-78). / Architecture education, by being enclosed in studios and by focusing on formal qualities of spaces, has been detached from the direct experience of space and has prioritized vision over the other senses. If we are to extend our spatial understanding, we need to expand the boundaries of our sensory perception by developing tools and situated learning strategies focused on the interaction between our bodies and the built environment. I propose the Perceptual Prototypes as tools through which we can sense and experience space. My hypothesis is that the Perceptual Prototypes can augment our understanding of space by allowing us to focus on each of our senses individually. As precedents I discuss pedagogies of the Montessori method and the Bauhaus school, which focused on the separate training of the senses. I then draw upon studies in psychology and cognitive science to suggest that we can train our senses by 'sensing through' and 'experiencing through' the tools we use. To demonstrate the pedagogical implications of my thesis, I first discuss the procedure and results of the workshop 'Perception Creatures' I co-taught during IAP. Students designed their own 'creatures' using sensors to study the body-space interaction. I then proceed with an experiment where I ask participants to explore a physical space by using a wearable tool - the Perceptual Prototype - that I developed. In the experiment the tool takes again the role of a creature, which is limited to a specific sense. Asking participants to act as host for this creature, I study how they experience the space by focusing on each of the different senses. The results of the case studies demonstrate the enriched experiences and perceptions that emerge through the use of the Perceptual Prototypes suggesting a direction towards a sensory pedagogy of space through the use of tools as 'objects to sense with' in the learning process. / by Athina Papadopoulou. / S.M.

Thesis: M. Arch., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (page 65). / This thesis takes aim at several agendas within architectural discourse. On one hand it is a demonstration of the architectural understanding of mask. The mask, as both an object of formal and figural qualities as well as a participant in performative rituals, becomes the source material with which to resituate the current practice of architecture along the lines of narrative performance. Through the study of specific works of architecture, such as Adolf Loos' houses and the development of theater form throughout history, the project defines several qualities of an architectural mask. Primary to this work lies in the mask's ability to reveal and conceal, and to do so both formally and psycho-socially. The proposal begins with a courthouse, a courthouse framed not as programmatic desire but as a site to develop complexity from the canonical instruments of architecture: hierarchy, sequence, and narrative. These instruments, coupled with tools present in both architectural history and masks of traditional societies such as symmetry and anthropomorphism, are used to simultaneously construct and question both the institutions of society and its architectural objects. / by Robert O White. / M. Arch.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 71). / Three case studies are used as a qualitative tool to analyze the successful conversion of these types of buildings. Analysis will consider physical dimension, building structure, capital structure, and project costs, including acquisition, development, and construction cost data. Tax or other incentive programs are discussed when applicable to project feasibility and developer returns identified when possible for a relative comparison. The case study analysis will attempt to provide practical information to developers considering similar conversion projects. The information will identify conditions and inherent problems that prevail in these buildings and will provide a general context for conversion feasibility analysis. / by Zach E. Schaumburg. / S.M.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-111). / The purpose of this thesis is to look at how light works with form to generate space. The thesis attempts to deal with the physical reality that light, space and form exist in a symbiotic relationship. The thesis deals with this relationship by exploring the architectural phenomenon that are generated from this relationship. It therefore does not try to deal with light in a technical manner, nor does it attempt to delve into the metaphysical and emotive qualities that can be attributed to light. The thesis uses a cyclical process of observation, analysis and testing. A wide range of references are presented both in the form of images and actual built lighting models. These are organized into five categories of light phenomenon and analyzed for underlying principles of the light form relationship. The principles abstracted from this research are then tested in a design. / by Michael Thomas Heffron. / M.Arch.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-123). / The thesis is an inquiry into the urban waterfront and access to it. In particular, it is about the waterfront of Boston which ought to be more accessible, more public, and more present in the life of the city. The project is then an exploration or discovery of the issues related to the making of a waterfront. I have diverged (for longer than I anticipated) into waterfront infrastructures and spent time looking at existing and preexisting waterfront structures, ail of which informs a design proposal for East Boston's waterfront. The design proposal is intended in its process to illustrate observations, discoveries, and conclusions. / by Sean McDonnell. / M.Arch.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1984. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 129-131). / This is a plan - a hypothesis in which some ideas are developed for the building of a path and parks. Through the use of imagery texture, and materials a sense of the possible is evoked. This is also an exploration of designer as an advocate for the user and the used . The forgotten elements. The spaces between. The earth, the river, the senses .... The site is Brattleboro, Vermont. There is a physical opportunity in Brattleboro to turn the town around. The backs of the old warehouses, the railroad, and the grade change to the Connecticut River are all resources. The possibility for living spaces and markets and recreation is created by the development of a pathway and series of small incursions into the built landscape of the area. / by Ann Compton. / M.Arch.

Thesis (M.S.V.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1984. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 17). / The edge of the stage is not only the point where the mask is removed but also the line where performance enters daily life . The film, The Edge of the Stage, revolves around this point through the lives of five performers. Many levels of illusion are presented and removed as they portray different characters in the film, including themselves. Their roles are both unique and universal as they become metaphors for performance . The vehicle, the film, is not only a transparent medium in which to express the art of performance but rather a structure to reference the performers' art and their lives to the nature of performance in all our lives. This paper examines the role of illusion in both film and performance and the structures that control and break that illusion. Moving through the history of these intertwined art forms, the paper traces some of the ideas and observations that provided a framework for The Edge of the Stage. The thesis consists of a text and a videotape. The tape is 18 minutes long, in color, with sound, and is a transfer onto 3/4" video from film. / by Catherine Purdie. / M.S.V.S.