A gathering of water

The act of immersion is a powerful catalyst for the affirmation or transformation of identity. How we place ourselves in water expresses cultural valuations of our bodies, water, and social relations, as well as categories of place and time. This thesis proposes to regenerate the mikvah, or Jewish ritual bath, by tapping into the resonance of its underlying themes, and integrating these into the social and physical landscape of modern life. The resulting design is an exploration of the possibilities inherent in the stages of ritual, in the meeting of body and water, and in the California landscape. The building is also organized by two spatial ideas about water. The spring and the pool organize movement and stillness for both people and water. Upper and lower zones of water instigate the tectonics of the building. Within each space, the particularities of ritual and of site and light inform the orientation and arrangement of the space.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Horowitz, Naomi Leah, 1970-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Fernando Domeyko.

• Architecture.

Statement dc:rights

• M.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.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/30231

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/30231