Reworking the city of workers : a new housing paradigm for the immigrant city

The climate of the reception of immigrants to the United States has soured, and circumstances are becoming increasingly difficult for persons seeking to gain residency. Reasons often given for the reversal in this practice are that immigrants are poor, uneducated, take jobs away from Americans, and use valuable resources otherwise available to the native-born. This at-best cautionary condition is unfortunate, not only because it decreases diversity in a society already afraid of "the other", but because the US is the very model founded on foreigners trying to make lives for themselves. In evidence now is a disdain and distrust of foreigners that could eventually affect all people in the US, resulting in an atmosphere of suspicion and negativity toward anyone who is perceived as different. This design thesis posits that immigrants are important additions to local neighborhoods and economies. If they are supported physically and psychologically during their initial period of arrival, they can more readily become integral members of American society. The design of housing, a learning center, and incorporation of the arts becomes a new means by which immigrants can retain ties to their cultural heritage, while concurrently increasing self-sufficiency, dispelling ignorance, and fostering greater acceptance and knowledge in the community at large.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2003

Author dc:creator

• Butler, Britta Erika, 1974-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• John E. Fernandez.

• 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/1721.1/8022

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/8022