On the social reception of material form and space, or, the SUV in the melee

This thesis explores social representations in architecture that have been objectified by various discourses on space and human activity. Using the sport-utility vehicle (SUV) as a multifaceted object in which these representations are seen, the possibility that a single material environment can embody conflicting social roles is proposed. A trope---the melee---is introduced as a model for the reception of material form and space that is grounded in bodily experience tempered by memory and projection. Three 'tries' engage the SUV in the melee, placing its apparent fixed meanings in crisis. Formal analysis in each 'try' reveals the vehicle's various typological allusions to Land Rovers, station wagons and crew cab pickup trucks. The imagined ancestries of the SUV---rooted in conquest, domesticity, and labor---conflict with one another and with its real uses, rendering architectural and urban space unfamiliar. In this melee , the embodied mind poses itself against the fixed social representations of spatial discourse.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Architecture

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Architecture

Grantor

Rice University

Year dc:date.issued

2000

Author dc:creator

• Fitzsimons, Juan Kent

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Biln, John

• American studies
• Geography
• Transportation
• Architecture
• Urban planning
• Regional planning

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1911/17337

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.rice.edu:1911/17337