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Building upon ruins : the evolution of an urban artifact from infrastructure to public space / Evolution of an urban artifact from infrastructure to public space

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-82). / A thesis is about what architecture can be. In my thesis I propose that urban infrastructure built in the late nineteenth-century, can be the foundation for urban public space in the late twentieth-century. I propose that by exploring the value inherent in an existing structure, or fragment thereof, we can derive reasons to retain and perhaps add to that structure, all for the enrichment of the urban environment. The why is the value of the artifact. To explore the possible valuations of the urban artifact I have studied various theories of the ruin, monuments, and their role in urban culture. Writings by Alois Riegl, Aldo Rossi. David Lowenthal. Francoise Choay, Theodor Adorno, Manfredo Tafuri , and Giorgio Grassi. among others, have guided this exploration. The second part of the thesis is designed to test the proposition by linking the urban artifact with the present. This linkage would be achieved through the design of a new intervention which would be responsive to the contemporary situation. The programmatic ideas of theater and promenade were employed as both the methods of linkage, and generators of design. / by Lenore Antonia Passavanti. / M.Arch.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:MIT/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/69329
Date January 1994
CreatorsPassavanti, Lenore Antonia
ContributorsWellington Reiter., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.
PublisherMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Source SetsM.I.T. Theses and Dissertation
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Format82 p. (some folded), application/pdf
RightsM.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission., http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

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