MIT Libraries logoDSpace@MIT

MIT
View Item 
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Libraries
  • MIT Theses
  • Graduate Theses
  • View Item
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Libraries
  • MIT Theses
  • Graduate Theses
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Exploding the edge : inversions into the urban landscape

Author(s)
Chia, Katherine Kai-sun
Thumbnail
DownloadFull printable version (34.19Mb)
Alternative title
Inversions into the urban landscape
Other Contributors
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.
Advisor
Julie Moir Messervy.
Terms of use
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
This thesis explores the relationship between building and green space in a dense urban environment in order to create a humane contemplative experience of individual and collective memory. The urban environment has the potential to inform a new attitude for open space which incorporates the building as a landscape element and weaves natural and architectural elements together physically and metaphorically. The building and the open space are inversions of each other while referencing the district around them, the cultural landscape. As a result, the form of the built urban context has the potential to define the urban edge along which everyday activity occurs while providing a place of refuge and protection for those who seek an occasional mental and physical retreat. The design, a small-scale public garden for Boston's Chinatown, references the urban Chinese landscape garden in order to reinforce the identity of this historic ethnic neighborhood within the downtown landscape of Boston. Two buildings - housing a tea house, restaurant, and information center- explore the zones of edge conditions between the outdoor and indoor spaces. Within the stratified realm of inhabitation, edge transitions between garden and architecture can establish new reference planes. By exploiting (and, perhaps, exploding) the edge between open space and building, the design process will treat the building as a landscape in itself as well as a landscape element in relationship to the garden.
Description
Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1991.
 
Includes bibliographical references (p. 135-137).
 
Date issued
1991
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65206
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Keywords
Architecture.

Collections
  • Graduate Theses

Browse

All of DSpaceCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

My Account

Login

Statistics

OA StatisticsStatistics by CountryStatistics by Department
MIT Libraries
PrivacyPermissionsAccessibilityContact us
MIT
Content created by the MIT Libraries, CC BY-NC unless otherwise noted. Notify us about copyright concerns.