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Virginia Tech

Dwelling within the Material City

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

What does it mean to truly dwell within a city marked by the cycles of political turnover? How does one carve out for himself a unique sense of belonging in a city with such a grand history? Martin Heidegger suggests that in building "nests" for ourselves, we begin to build our lives. We build our own stories into the traditions and myths of a place. This thesis proposes four unique stories, or four dwelling typologies, stitched together by a common alley site. Each dwelling typology finds its primary expression in one of the Four Classical Elements — Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. The four are intended to be read as distinct artifacts within the urban fabric of Washington, D.C., yet also as siblings of the same architectural family. The four dwelling typologies include (1) a studio for an artist, (2) a residence above a small business, (3) loft apartments and (4) a boutique hotel. Each occupies an infill site along the District of Colombia's historic Blagden Alley.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Architecture
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Architecture
Department dc:contributor.department
Architecture
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2010

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Hawkins, Eric Keith
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Piedmont-Palladino, Susan C.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Emmons, Paul F.
  • Lever, David G.

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-01132011-110014
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/30933

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Hawkins, Eric Keith. Dwelling within the Material City. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/30933