Outlining the characteristics of tractable housing : a design of rowhouses

Architecture is not just flashy design, nor is its sole aim to determine what dispositions of form are appropriate for all people for all time. Sometimes the architect must take a more humble, less visible role. Participation of the people who inhabit a place is key to maintaining the environment. For such participation to occur, an architect must enable inhabitants to exercise a wide play of choice in the use of a built environment and of change in the adaptation of its physical structure. Such characteristics of a place contribute to its tractability. The objective of this thesis is to outline design characteristics which contribute to the tractability of housing, using the rowhouse type as a spring point. This study is grounded in a behavioral perspective. Dimensional criteria are generated using behavior patterns, in an attempt to avoid stereotypes inherent in defining household activities by rooms. Activity settings and use scenarios are vehicles for examining two instructive examples of housing. Relevant characteristics are summarized and employed in the design of rowhouses for a Cambridge site, to simulate future conditions as scarcity of natural resources brings about concern for intensification of urban land use.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

1980

Author dc:creator

• Craig, Charles Allen

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Chester Sprague.

• 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/1721.1/72704

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/72704