{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/33466"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/33466","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Vita Beata","abstract":"\"The main role of the art of building is to make our life pleasant and happy, an invaluable vita beata\"-Marco Frascari. Vita Beata-the blessed life, the good life-this is why we design and ultimately build. Designers too often forget this important reality and unwittingly design places which may serve the financial expediency of their clients, or their own intellectual hubris, but entirely miss this highest aim of architecture. Such an epicurean design position demands that the highest priority be placed on architectural relationships and conditions which serve people in their endeavor to be reconciled and at peace with their surroundings. This thesis examines three such relationships: the relationship of the house with neighboring houses, the relationship of the house with its site, and the relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces. Houses built under today's urban (or suburban) sprawl paradigm often create dysfunction and disharmony in these critical relationships and subtly alienate and harass people in their daily efforts to fulfill their most fundamental human desires. Several precedents from master architects are considered which actively address these important relationships, with very positive results. A small, multi-unit, residential project is proposed with respect to these relationships and in response to the harmful practices of urban sprawl. Our culture desperately needs relevant proposals from architects which address the blight of urban sprawl. Too often, architectural ideas are limited in their relevance because they are conceived in utopian notions that disregard, or naively overlook, important contextual factors and relationships.","abstract_html":""The main role of the art of building is to make our life pleasant and happy, an invaluable vita beata"-Marco Frascari. Vita Beata-the blessed life, the good life-this is why we design and ultimately build. Designers too often forget this important reality and unwittingly design places which may serve the financial expediency of their clients, or their own intellectual hubris, but entirely miss this highest aim of architecture. Such an epicurean design position demands that the highest priority be placed on architectural relationships and conditions which serve people in their endeavor to be reconciled and at peace with their surroundings. This thesis examines three such relationships: the relationship of the house with neighboring houses, the relationship of the house with its site, and the relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces. Houses built under today's urban (or suburban) sprawl paradigm often create dysfunction and disharmony in these critical relationships and subtly alienate and harass people in their daily efforts to fulfill their most fundamental human desires. Several precedents from master architects are considered which actively address these important relationships, with very positive results. A small, multi-unit, residential project is proposed with respect to these relationships and in response to the harmful practices of urban sprawl. Our culture desperately needs relevant proposals from architects which address the blight of urban sprawl. Too often, architectural ideas are limited in their relevance because they are conceived in utopian notions that disregard, or naively overlook, important contextual factors and relationships.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hart, Timothy Robert"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Architecture","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Architecture","degree_department":"Architecture","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Brown, William W."],"committee_members":["Rott, Hans Christian","O'Brien, Michael J."],"year":2001,"date_issued":"2001-09-19","date_published":"2001-09-19","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:26Z","subjects":["urban design","urbanism","urban sprawl","proportion","Architecture"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-06072003-090605"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-06072003-090605","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/33466","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Brown, William W."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Rott, Hans Christian","O'Brien, Michael J."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Architecture"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hart, Timothy Robert"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:39:33Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:39:33Z","2003-08-08"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2001-09-19"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.dcmitype","label":"Dc Type Dcmitype","values":["Text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Architecture"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Architecture"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["urban design","urbanism","urban sprawl","proportion","Architecture"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-06072003-090605"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/33466"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["\"The main role of the art of building is to make our life pleasant and happy, an invaluable vita beata\"-Marco Frascari. Vita Beata-the blessed life, the good life-this is why we design and ultimately build. Designers too often forget this important reality and unwittingly design places which may serve the financial expediency of their clients, or their own intellectual hubris, but entirely miss this highest aim of architecture. Such an epicurean design position demands that the highest priority be placed on architectural relationships and conditions which serve people in their endeavor to be reconciled and at peace with their surroundings. This thesis examines three such relationships: the relationship of the house with neighboring houses, the relationship of the house with its site, and the relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces. Houses built under today's urban (or suburban) sprawl paradigm often create dysfunction and disharmony in these critical relationships and subtly alienate and harass people in their daily efforts to fulfill their most fundamental human desires. Several precedents from master architects are considered which actively address these important relationships, with very positive results. A small, multi-unit, residential project is proposed with respect to these relationships and in response to the harmful practices of urban sprawl. Our culture desperately needs relevant proposals from architects which address the blight of urban sprawl. Too often, architectural ideas are limited in their relevance because they are conceived in utopian notions that disregard, or naively overlook, important contextual factors and relationships."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Architecture"]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Vita Beata"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Brown, William W."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Rott, Hans Christian","O'Brien, Michael J."],"dc:contributor.department":["Architecture"],"dc:creator":["Hart, Timothy Robert"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T20:39:33Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T20:39:33Z","2003-08-08"],"dc:date.issued":["2001-09-19"],"dc:description.abstract":["\"The main role of the art of building is to make our life pleasant and happy, an invaluable vita beata\"-Marco Frascari. Vita Beata-the blessed life, the good life-this is why we design and ultimately build. Designers too often forget this important reality and unwittingly design places which may serve the financial expediency of their clients, or their own intellectual hubris, but entirely miss this highest aim of architecture. Such an epicurean design position demands that the highest priority be placed on architectural relationships and conditions which serve people in their endeavor to be reconciled and at peace with their surroundings. This thesis examines three such relationships: the relationship of the house with neighboring houses, the relationship of the house with its site, and the relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces. Houses built under today's urban (or suburban) sprawl paradigm often create dysfunction and disharmony in these critical relationships and subtly alienate and harass people in their daily efforts to fulfill their most fundamental human desires. Several precedents from master architects are considered which actively address these important relationships, with very positive results. A small, multi-unit, residential project is proposed with respect to these relationships and in response to the harmful practices of urban sprawl. Our culture desperately needs relevant proposals from architects which address the blight of urban sprawl. Too often, architectural ideas are limited in their relevance because they are conceived in utopian notions that disregard, or naively overlook, important contextual factors and relationships."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Architecture"],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.other":["etd-06072003-090605"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/33466"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["urban design","urbanism","urban sprawl","proportion","Architecture"],"dc:title":["Vita Beata"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"dc:type.dcmitype":["Text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Architecture"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Architecture"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:26Z"}