Public places through the private eye

Abstract

The radical change in the pattern of everyday communication has corresponded with a rapid transformation of the character of public urban places and the way they are used. The urban network is no longer the primary space for and means of communication as it was before the introduction of television, computers and other electronic media; its role needs reevaluation. This thesis offers a brief summary of public places, considering their physical and institutional development and their dimensional and functional characteristics as a determining factor in their success. Examples are used to demonstrate the relevance of continuity within the city as well as the importance of a prOjected institutional image. These observations and analyses become the platform from which a proposal for the new entrance to MIT at Kendall Square is developed. The main element of the proposal is the MIT Museum, which houses the world's largest holography collection. The site, located at the threshold where the Massachusetts Institute of Technology meets the city of Cambridge, plays an important role in the life of the Institute, and it informs MIT's relationship to Cambridge and Boston, becoming a significant public joint at the scale of the city, both formally and functionally.