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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Office of Back of House

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Office of Back of House (OoBoH, pronounced “ooh-boo”), is an architectural practice that operates at the intersection of ducts, conduits, scaffolding, custodial carts, mechanical rooms and sheds. OoBoH conducts design experiments in and around these maintenance objects and spaces typically separated from “architecture-proper.” By looking at the regulations, funding initiatives, zoning amendments and energy consumption routines that rule these spaces, OoBoH questions the boundaries that separate them from the “front of house” to begin with. These “back of house” spaces exist right inside the thick poché line that bounds what is thought to be the domain of design. Back of house (BoH) is dictated by an obscured regime of maintenance processes, and by leveraging these currently unexamined spaces, OoBoH believes that they can become the site for tactical design interventions and new visions of maintenance culture. OoBoH is an attempt at entering architecture from the back door, re-characterizing existing buildings as dependent on the spaces and labor often hidden behind pastiche and façade.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master
Department dc:contributor.department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture
Grantor dc:publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Year dc:date.issued
2024

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Bilal, Ekin
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Miljački, Ana

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
  • Copyright retained by author(s)

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/157359
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/157359

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
MIT
Base URL
dspace.mit.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
related terms
citation

Bilal, Ekin. Office of Back of House. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2024. https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/157359