{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/70642"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/70642","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The automaton theater","abstract":"Hero of Alexandria was a Greek geometrician, engineer, and inventor who lived in Alexandria probably during the first century A.D. He wrote in Greek a number of theoretical treatises revealing a thorough knowledge of geometry, mechanics, optics, and pneumatics. Being more interested in the applications of his theoretical principles than in the principles themselves, Hero is known as the inventor of a number of ingenious devices based on principles of pneumatics, mechanics, and optics. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate Hero's work from an artistic viewpoint. To this end, it focuses on devices described in three of Hero's treatises, Pneumatica, Catoptrica, and Automatopoietica, in order to identify their artistic value and artistic novelty. Hero's influence on subsequent artistic-technical work, and in particular on the contemporary automaton theater, is also discussed. Finally, considerations are added in relation to a new project.","abstract_html":"Hero of Alexandria was a Greek geometrician, engineer, and inventor who lived in Alexandria probably during the first century A.D. He wrote in Greek a number of theoretical treatises revealing a thorough knowledge of geometry, mechanics, optics, and pneumatics. Being more interested in the applications of his theoretical principles than in the principles themselves, Hero is known as the inventor of a number of ingenious devices based on principles of pneumatics, mechanics, and optics. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate Hero's work from an artistic viewpoint. To this end, it focuses on devices described in three of Hero's treatises, Pneumatica, Catoptrica, and Automatopoietica, in order to identify their artistic value and artistic novelty. Hero's influence on subsequent artistic-technical work, and in particular on the contemporary automaton theater, is also discussed. Finally, considerations are added in relation to a new project.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Xagoraris, Zafirios"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Otto Piene."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1991,"date_issued":"1991","date_published":"1991","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:12Z","subjects":["Architecture."],"languages":["eng"],"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."],"rights_urls":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/70642","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Otto Piene."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.other","label":"Dc Contributor Other","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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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."]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/70642"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Thesis (M.S.V.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1991.","Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-47)."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Hero of Alexandria was a Greek geometrician, engineer, and inventor who lived in Alexandria probably during the first century A.D. He wrote in Greek a number of theoretical treatises revealing a thorough knowledge of geometry, mechanics, optics, and pneumatics. Being more interested in the applications of his theoretical principles than in the principles themselves, Hero is known as the inventor of a number of ingenious devices based on principles of pneumatics, mechanics, and optics. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate Hero's work from an artistic viewpoint. To this end, it focuses on devices described in three of Hero's treatises, Pneumatica, Catoptrica, and Automatopoietica, in order to identify their artistic value and artistic novelty. Hero's influence on subsequent artistic-technical work, and in particular on the contemporary automaton theater, is also discussed. Finally, considerations are added in relation to a new project."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["M.S.V.S."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The automaton theater"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Otto Piene."],"dc:contributor.department":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture."],"dc:contributor.other":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture."],"dc:creator":["Xagoraris, Zafirios"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2012-05-15T20:59:54Z"],"dc:date.available":["2012-05-15T20:59:54Z"],"dc:date.issued":["1991"],"dc:description":["Thesis (M.S.V.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1991.","Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-47)."],"dc:description.abstract":["Hero of Alexandria was a Greek geometrician, engineer, and inventor who lived in Alexandria probably during the first century A.D. He wrote in Greek a number of theoretical treatises revealing a thorough knowledge of geometry, mechanics, optics, and pneumatics. Being more interested in the applications of his theoretical principles than in the principles themselves, Hero is known as the inventor of a number of ingenious devices based on principles of pneumatics, mechanics, and optics. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate Hero's work from an artistic viewpoint. To this end, it focuses on devices described in three of Hero's treatises, Pneumatica, Catoptrica, and Automatopoietica, in order to identify their artistic value and artistic novelty. Hero's influence on subsequent artistic-technical work, and in particular on the contemporary automaton theater, is also discussed. 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