Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references. / The "skyscraper problem" challenged the thought and practice of civic designers and architects prior to World War I. It referred to the incompatibility of City Beautiful principles with economically propelled land development, and to the contradiction between the notion of architecture as an art and the skyscraper's programmatic and technical requirements. Civic designers in New York had difficulty accommodating the skyscraper in their large-scale plans. They also found that it intruded on their vision for the business street, hindered their attempts to plan City Hall Park as New York's civic center, and created a chaotic skyline. Bruce Price, Louis Sullivan, Thomas Hastings, Cyrus L.W. Eidlitz, and other architects suggested alternative proposals for subjecting the skyscraper to the constraints of design . Prior to the design of the Woolworth Building, however, architectural critics did not unanimously endorse any single approach. Frank Woolworth chose a site for his proposed headquarters at the intersection of City Hall Park, New York's civic center, with lower Broadway, the spine of its business district . Woolworth commissioned Cass Gilbert to design the Woolworth Building in 1910. Gilbert shared the City Beautiful vision of McKim, Mead & White and Daniel Burnham. He also accepted the skyscraper's pragmatic requirements. Woolworth intended his headquarters to function as a speculative office building, but also to look like a civic institution. The imagery of a civic institution would represent the capitol of his commercial "empire" as well as display his civic-mindedness, wealth, and cosmopolitanism. The Woolworth Building's siting at New York's civic center, its composition, its arcade, and its sculptural and mural decoration identified it with the prevailing concept of the civic building. The soaring vertical piers of its exterior recalled Gilbert's earlier design for the West Street Building, which was influenced by the functionalist ideas of Louis Sullivan. The Woolworth Building convinced critics that a suitable architectural expression could be found for the skyscraper. Zoning reformers regarded it as a benign skyscraper. Contemporary observers attuned to City Beautiful aesthetic principles thought that the Woolworth Building strengthened the order and image of New York's civic center and enhanced the view of the city from afar. / by Gail Fenske. / Ph.D.

Thesis. 1978. M.Arch.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 34-35. / by Leah Greenwald. / M.Arch.

No description available.

Conceptions of community violence that circulate in American society are shaped by, and shape, the way that public health violence intervention programs are designed and implemented. As a conceptual point of departure for public health programming, community violence focuses on acutely violent events, where homicide and/or hospitalization are the potential outcomes. The violence experienced by poor people living in marginal neighborhoods is chronic and does not resemble this conception of violence on which public health intervention programs are based. The violence that is most pressing to these intended service recipients is driven by their immersion in poverty. As a result of this lack of conceptual correspondence, intervention programs are unable to achieve the intended goal of violence reduction. / Drawing on and adding to the literature from the anthropology of violence and the anthropology of public health, this thesis explores public health conceptions of community and domestic violence intervention as contrasted with the experience of structural violence for the individuals for whom intervention services are designed. The research that underwrites this project was conducted in an inner-city public hospital and focused on a clinically-driven, community-based youth violence intervention program. / Clinical and community violence intervention programs bring three groups together: clinical practitioners, community workers and youth service recipients. This study explores the heterogeneity of the world views of members of these groups and exposes the power imbalances inherent to clinical and community collaborations. The power differentials exist between the clinical, community and youth factions, as well as within each faction. This work shows how this unequal distribution of power---between and among these sub-groups---mirrors themes in American society and comes to influence internal program adjustment and negotiation. The process observed highlights how power politics, as well as incongruent perspectives on violence, play out initially in the implementation process and secondarily in the lives of the youth who were program participants. / This work, which has theoretical and practical implications for scholars working in the areas of poverty, violence, public health interventionism or adolescent programming, concludes with a summary of alternative strategies to approach violence prevention programming.

“Path and Place” is the design of an ‘infill’ building, primarily residential, on a vacant site in New York City. The central concern was an attempt to satisfy the elusive criteria for a home as a special place. Secondarily, it was important enhance the community with a lively place. Emphasis was placed on access to outdoor areas such as the courtyards, roof gardens, and balconies. ln these areas. it is possible to have a range of interaction among residents and neighbors. One may be an observer of the public scene, or a participant in a shared garden, or a shopper in a public market. The scale of the project is compatible with mid-rise apartment buildings surrounding the site. The structure reflects that it is built over a railroad cut which runs at an angle to the street grid. Construction is of repetitive pre-cast concrete load-bearing walls and concrete slab floors. Double-thick walls are used not only to carry utilities, but to separate one residential unit from another both physically and symbolically. There are 56 apartments varying in size from studio to large work/live units. The ground floor areas contain shops, a restaurant and a retail greenhouse. A second building is planned for the adjacent vacant site, to function as a research facility for urban agriculture. Both buildings contain courtyards—the residential one open and the research facility’s covered—which encourage pedestrian circulation from one main street to another. The roofs are used as gardens for the residents and the research facility. / Master of Architecture

The Urban Renewal Program was an offshoot of the Federal housing Act of 1949, which alloted Federal funds to cities for redevelopment and slum clearance. Critics of urban renewal believe that the real intent of this program was redevelopment of the Central Business District, although officially the goal of the program was to provide a decent home and a pleasant living environment for the people. The result was improvement of inner city areas at the cost of uprooting and displacement of its residents.The Federal Urban Renewal Program ended in 1973, but local governments retained the option to use this strategy to revitalize neighborhoods. The politicians and planners of New York City have retained their faith in the Urban Renewal Program. They have modified the original program and concepts and are currently using it successfully to increase the housing stock and improve neighborhoods.The approach to urban renewal in New York City is very different from the preconceived notion that large scale demolition is the only method of implementation of an urban renewal plan. The scale and type of action varies according to specific needs of an area. Demolition is done only when necessary so that minimal relocation is required.Although provision of housing is the main thrust of the Urban Renewal Program, urban design issues are considered when preparing an urban renewal plan. This is a jointeffort by Federal, City and State agencies together with citizen input to create a better living environment for the people.This thesis analyses the reasons for this success through a discussion of case studies of current urban renewal projects in New York City. The focus of this research is on the neighborhoods of Arverne and Edgemere located in the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. This study traces the planning process for these two urban renewal areas from their inception to the current status and identifies how urban renewal can be beneficial for the social and physical environment, and how it can be used as an effective planning tool. / Department of Urban Planning

Universiẗat, Diss.--Tübingen, 1991.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2005. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Catholic University of America, 1930. / Vita. Bibliography: p. 121-128.

Thesis (M.A. in history)--Washington State University, December 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Mar. 9, 2009). "Department of History." Includes bibliographical references (p. 126-134).