Teasing out technique : animating Boston's City Hall

What were once considered advanced visualization techniques have now become commonplace. With the advancement of visualization tools, animation has quickly become a primary means of representation within architecture; however, architects have not yet taken a critical approach to the techniques of this medium as we have with other forms of representation. As it becomes easier and easier for the everyday person to create a fly-through animation of their house, apartment or favorite building, architects are losing the opportunity to utilize this medium to its fullest potential and define it as an important tool of representation deeply rooted in the history of architectural representation. This thesis aims to critically examine the medium of architectural animation today by presenting a comparative study of one building, Boston's City Hall, through the lens of three contemporary tropes of animation. While this building has a complex and controversial history, the comparative nature of this study places the focus on the medium of representation and its capacity to bring out new readings about its subject, rather than vice versa.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Woods, Ann C., M. Arch. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Joel D. Lamere.

• 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/1721.1/70753

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/70753