Corporate icons in the suburban landscape
Name
844352996-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
24.35 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
5e357a020cc99341e14147cdbfd2e96c
Author(s)
Abolina, Viktorija
Advisor(s)
Dennis Frenchman.
Date Issued
2013
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
The image of the modern workplace in the American suburb has long been a contentious topic of discussion among academics, planning and development professionals, and the public. Today, the critics of office parks in the low-density neighborhoods are applauding the idea of reverse migration back to the city. It is no doubt a trend for large competitive corporations and one that this thesis will explore. But in their day, the suburban corporate centers represented the epitome of advanced thinking about corporate organization, productivity, innovation, marketing, and architecture. This thesis will focus on how these large centers came into being, how they functioned and their continuing legacy. The principal cases and relevant examples discussed were designed by renowned 20th century architects and are of an iconic architectural value. The classic examples examined include: General Motors Technical Center, Deere and Company, PepsiCo, and Union Carbide. The hypothesis is that the day of suburban corporate centers is not over, that despite the changes in corporate culture and work-life, the lure of the isolated center in the landscape is so powerful that it will continue to be valuable to companies - but in new ways: as amenity locations for workers, and with new kinds of uses and activities incorporated into the centers.
Description
Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2013.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 86-89).
Subjects
Urban Studies and Planning.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning
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