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Virginia Tech

An Architectural Follie on Monte San Giorgio

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Geometry. Pure Form. What are the limits of these concepts in architecture? To what extent can they be realized through constructive means? To the architect, these concepts are often the originating forces driving their work, but their nature is intangible, and can be best understood through reason. There exists then, a dichotomy that the architect is left to resolve: that which is solely of an intelligible nature and that which can exist within the physical limitations of our reality. While architectonic limitations are that of the physical, Architecture itself exists within both of these realms, the duality of the mind and of the body, and it is the charge of the architect to reconcile their inherent contradictions. The limitations of the mind and the body are incompatible at an absolute level, but there exists a degree of overlap within which architecture is found. Place is a catalyst that can trigger this dissonance. The intelligible exists in a placeless space, a space that was given a framework by René Descartes in his notion of extension, and exists as a free body. In contrast, the architectonic is contingent on placement and the forces of gravity. They are simultaneously contradictory and co-related. This thesis pursues the limits of this contradiction; its culmination more akin to an architectural follie than the original intent: a modest hiking shelter.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Architecture
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Architecture
Department dc:contributor.department
Architecture
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2020

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Foss, Erik Alexander
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Weiner, Frank H.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Thompson, Steven R.
  • Schnoedt, Heinrich

Subjects

dc:subject × 4

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:24377
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/97367

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Foss, Erik Alexander. An Architectural Follie on Monte San Giorgio. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/97367