A morphology of consolidation : spatial form and physical change in an American suburb

This thesis is an exploration and analysis of the spatial form and structure of physical change within an American suburb. Typified as middle class, residential, and single family, one finds in such settings detached one or two story houses on 1/8 to 1/4 acre lots. One central argument is that physical change, or change of spatial form and structure, is a requisite concern within all built environments, including suburbia. The second argument is that physical change (ought to be) is guided by the existing spatial form and structure of the built environment (suburbia) such that the resulting environment manifests similar patterns of spatial form.The purpose of the thesis is to bring to rational, objective consideration a particular type of physical change which is occurring in suburbia yet is to a certain extent denied and not accepted. If such change is to be properly managed and to be used to the advantage of the greatest number of suburban residents, it must become a legitimate topic for public discussion. This thesis attempts to enable and facilitate the discussion through the presentation of a rational and systematic understanding of how physical change does/would/could come about and through an understanding of the environmental consequences of such change. The particular mode of physical change considered here and occurring in many lower density, middle class, residential suburbs is being referred to as "consolidation". The term, consolidation, is defined as the extension of and the building from current residential investments in housing and infrastructure in order to provide additional housing units without disrupting the existing built environment. The objective confronted in this thesis, in relation to consolidation, is to enable more and a greater variety of households to live in suburbia while guaranteeing these households and existing residents the maintenance of a certain degree of environmental qualities. In addition, such housing must be affordable to purchase and maintain, and tailored to a variety of household sizes and configurations.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

1983

Author dc:creator

• Seppanen, Brent

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Edward Robbins.

• 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/1721.1/77292

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/77292