In the quest of an adaptable built form : studying transformations in the MIT Campus

Adaptability of the built form has for a long time been the concern of many designers. Driven by different motives such as the accommodation of "uncertainty," the pursue of an "economical space", the restoration of the user's "control" over the form, and the pursue of "fit," designers and scholars have proposed various formal means in order to achieve an architecture that would provide for change. The purpose of this thesis is to add to this discussion, proposing particular design strategies. In order to do this, transformations are documented and measured in the Main Buildings of the MIT Campus, which have often been cited for their ability to accommodate change. The thesis hypothesizes that the buildings in question contained in their body a certain DNA that enabled them to transform easily and effectively. Through the analysis of the original system of buildings and its transformations, which are divided into the two categories of growth and internal change, this DNA is exposed and juxtaposed to the formal means that have been suggested in the ideas of designers and scholars.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Zafeiriadou, Maria

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Julian Beinart.

• 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/1721.1/34985

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34985