{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/150121"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/150121","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Beyond Topography: Remapping Appalachia","abstract":"The field of architecture has been operating under a false sense that we only construct things. Robin Evans might be right that architects make drawings, not buildings, but through these drawings, we’re also moving mountains. The geography of Appalachia has become collateral damage in architecture’s focus on our urban centers through mountaintop removal coal mining. Architecture’s conversations around sustainable architecture have neglected the design interventions that operate at our sites of resource extraction. We design buildings for a ~100-year lifespan, but extraction marks the landscape for millennia. Architects, as we’re trained, are ill-equipped to address the wide-reaching impacts of extraction, but we do have a number of tools that can be used for more critical interrogation. We are comfortable with scaling ideas, with form, with figure to confront issues that deal with society at large. Recognizing that architects are inadvertently working with mountains and topography, this thesis proposes a design methodology for architectural operations through these geologic scales of place and time. With media as method, this exploratory research presents a range of approaches to telling the story of resource extraction through experimentation with time-based form transformations, mapping, scale shifting, and multimedia storytelling. Materiality, time, and non/scalability are topics that converge (and diverge) through artifacts, both found and made.","abstract_html":"The field of architecture has been operating under a false sense that we only construct things. Robin Evans might be right that architects make drawings, not buildings, but through these drawings, we’re also moving mountains. The geography of Appalachia has become collateral damage in architecture’s focus on our urban centers through mountaintop removal coal mining. Architecture’s conversations around sustainable architecture have neglected the design interventions that operate at our sites of resource extraction. We design buildings for a ~100-year lifespan, but extraction marks the landscape for millennia. Architects, as we’re trained, are ill-equipped to address the wide-reaching impacts of extraction, but we do have a number of tools that can be used for more critical interrogation. We are comfortable with scaling ideas, with form, with figure to confront issues that deal with society at large. Recognizing that architects are inadvertently working with mountains and topography, this thesis proposes a design methodology for architectural operations through these geologic scales of place and time. With media as method, this exploratory research presents a range of approaches to telling the story of resource extraction through experimentation with time-based form transformations, mapping, scale shifting, and multimedia storytelling. Materiality, time, and non/scalability are topics that converge (and diverge) through artifacts, both found and made.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Koskey, Katherine"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":"Master","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Clifford, Brandon"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-02","date_published":"2023-02","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:25Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright MIT"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/150121","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Clifford, Brandon"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Koskey, Katherine"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2023-03-31T14:33:44Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2023-03-31T14:33:44Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2023-02"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master","Master of Architecture"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright MIT"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/150121"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The field of architecture has been operating under a false sense that we only construct things. Robin Evans might be right that architects make drawings, not buildings, but through these drawings, we’re also moving mountains. The geography of Appalachia has become collateral damage in architecture’s focus on our urban centers through mountaintop removal coal mining. Architecture’s conversations around sustainable architecture have neglected the design interventions that operate at our sites of resource extraction. We design buildings for a ~100-year lifespan, but extraction marks the landscape for millennia. Architects, as we’re trained, are ill-equipped to address the wide-reaching impacts of extraction, but we do have a number of tools that can be used for more critical interrogation. We are comfortable with scaling ideas, with form, with figure to confront issues that deal with society at large. Recognizing that architects are inadvertently working with mountains and topography, this thesis proposes a design methodology for architectural operations through these geologic scales of place and time. With media as method, this exploratory research presents a range of approaches to telling the story of resource extraction through experimentation with time-based form transformations, mapping, scale shifting, and multimedia storytelling. Materiality, time, and non/scalability are topics that converge (and diverge) through artifacts, both found and made."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["M.Arch."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Beyond Topography: Remapping Appalachia"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Clifford, Brandon"],"dc:contributor.department":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture"],"dc:creator":["Koskey, Katherine"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2023-03-31T14:33:44Z"],"dc:date.available":["2023-03-31T14:33:44Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2023-02"],"dc:description.abstract":["The field of architecture has been operating under a false sense that we only construct things. Robin Evans might be right that architects make drawings, not buildings, but through these drawings, we’re also moving mountains. The geography of Appalachia has become collateral damage in architecture’s focus on our urban centers through mountaintop removal coal mining. Architecture’s conversations around sustainable architecture have neglected the design interventions that operate at our sites of resource extraction. We design buildings for a ~100-year lifespan, but extraction marks the landscape for millennia. Architects, as we’re trained, are ill-equipped to address the wide-reaching impacts of extraction, but we do have a number of tools that can be used for more critical interrogation. We are comfortable with scaling ideas, with form, with figure to confront issues that deal with society at large. Recognizing that architects are inadvertently working with mountains and topography, this thesis proposes a design methodology for architectural operations through these geologic scales of place and time. With media as method, this exploratory research presents a range of approaches to telling the story of resource extraction through experimentation with time-based form transformations, mapping, scale shifting, and multimedia storytelling. Materiality, time, and non/scalability are topics that converge (and diverge) through artifacts, both found and made."],"dc:description.degree":["M.Arch."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/150121"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright MIT"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"],"dc:title":["Beyond Topography: Remapping Appalachia"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master","Master of Architecture"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:25Z"}