Decomposing the grid
Name
156940159-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
21.55 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
c71d868415c13d59f70ba0890676622f
Author(s)
Wilkins, Ophelia (Ophelia Jane)
Advisor(s)
Arindam Dutta and Paul Schlapobersky.
Date Issued
2007
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
The American landscape chronicles the dreams of an agricultural nation through a series of regular lines en-scribed on a flat plane. Each 6 mile x 6 mile square frames a lose-lose situation in which government subsidies encourage intensive monocultural production resulting in loss of topsoil, biodiversity and population while contaminating the ground with chemicals and glutting global commodity markets. Current "advances" in agricultural research demonstrate that age-old technologies - small scale rotational systems - properly managed, can multiply productivity while rehabilitating soils, retaining moisture and reducing or eliminating chemical applications. At a fragile moment in history when only 2% of the population produces the agriculture which supports the other 98%, this thesis proposes an alternative to the current agro-political landscape in which rational lines no longer suffice to measure a rotational landscape.
Description
Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2007.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-90).
Subjects
Architecture.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture
Terms of Use
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