311

152
48
122, 143
McPherson, Kimberly
Medrano, Mariana
Merzaban, Mandy
Mohan, Sahil
Imprint
148 Moreau, Sacha
26 Moursi, Manar
202 Moyers, Ruth Blair
326, 332 Nahleh, Mohamad
312 Nguyen, Gary
60 Nisar, Muhammad
Hasan
303 Nwigwe, Alexandra
72 O'ladipo, Yesufu
32 Ocampo Aguilar,
Chucho (Jesus)
160 Oh, Yoonjae
196 Ow, Inez
52 Pacheco, Antonio
98, 137 Pankhurst, David
16, 326 Papadopoulou, Athina 220, 297 Song, Alice Jia Li 184 Wang, Yujie
322 Parsons, Olivia 322 Sonner, Jessica 70 Weber, Ramon
176 Pearl, Natalie 224 Sun, Yutan 262 White, David
318 Pipitone, Vanessa 30 Sunder, Aarti 126, 139 Williams, Susan
278 Prachasartta, 194 Sunshine, Gil 17, 46 Winston, ElDante C
Jariyaporn 224 Swagemakers, Jitske 156, 336 Wissemann, Emily
306 Quinn, Hailey 190, 332 Tam, Carolyn 220 Wong, Erin
38, 180 Rajkumar, Vijay 313 Tang, Sandra 256 Woo, Jaehun
317 Rao, John 148 Tasistro-Hart, Benjamin 224 Wood, Ellen
278, 288 Rau, Lasse 314 Teichner, Nicole 338 Wu, Charles
120, 142 Reinhard, Ellen Marie 340 Then, Eva 204 Wu, Jie (Ryan)
322 Roberts, Zachary 314 Timmons, Meghan 321 Wu, Melody
232, 243, 326 Rodrigues, Carol-Anne 128, 140 Titova, Alena 160, 338 Wu, Stewart Haotian
320 Rogers, Marina 238 Torres, Lynced 323 Wu, Wendy
114, 140 Rotman, Katie 312 Toye, Katherine 208, 247 Xu, Zhicheng
304 Rubin, Dana 308 Tumkur Mahesh, Prajwal 210, 338 Xu, Zhifei
310 Rutherford, Emma 130, 143, 326 Ugorji, Amanda 145, 282 Xu, Ziyu
24 Šabanovic, Faruk 309 Vasikaran, Sangita 216, 332, 335 Yacoby, Yaara
164 SadeghiKivi, Ardalan 274, 292 VijayKumar, Mona 316, 326, 338 Yang, Catherine
17 Saha, Indrani 84 Vlavianos, Nikolaos 274, 284 Zanders, Gabriela Degetau
110, 140 Schnitzler, Jenna 216 Waddle, Marisa Concetta 307 Zareno, Kaitlin
58 Scott, Brandon 338, 340 Waitz, Isabel 134, 145 Zeng, Iris
180 Searight, Tristan 118, 141, 338 Wang-Xu, Mackinley 156, 338 Zhang, Daisy Ziyan
304 Seguin, Alexander 320 Wang, Ashley 321 Zhang, Davide
276, 286 Shi, Huiwen 160, 338 Wang, Chloe Yun 319 Zhang, Jenny
198 Sim, Jinyoung 244 Wang, Edward 200, 290 Zhao, Mengqiao
332 Slater, Rebecca 306 Wang, Ivy 96, 138 Zhong, Calvin
311 Smerekanych, Eva 332 Wang, Yiou 34, 326, 338 Zhu, Emma (Yimeng)
50, 332 Soltan, Meriam 132, 144 Wang, Yiqing 338 Zhu, Ziyuan (Zoey)

MIT Architecture Volume 01 Issue 01

 MIT Architecture
164 Abou Ras, Ous
176, 326 Alkhayat, Latifa
90, 136 Allen, Christopher
28, 152 AlMulla, Nada
66 Alvarez, Eduardo Gascón
19, 326, 332 Alvarez, Xio
94, 137 Amstutz, Caroline
230 Arenas, Ana
242, 250 Auriyane, Arditha
318 Avila, Mariana
319 Barakat, Layal
308 Basinger, Nathan
327 Bayomi, Norhan
332 Beltrame, Daniela
248 Benitez, Adiel
212 Boes, Taylor
164 Boscolo, Arthur
76 Bowen, Lu
106, 138 Brazier, Justin 156 Geltman, Julian Escudero 266 Konjicanin, Melika
236, 326, 336, 340 Brearley, Jonathon 100, 139 Gideonse, Lauren 172 Koskey, Katie
112, 141, 330, 332 Brice, James 102, 139 Giorgis, Adriana 276, 298 Lan, Xuan
92, 136 Carriker, Bella Carmelita 332 González-Cervantes, 326 Landez, Daniel
80 Chatzinikolis, Dimitrios Marianna 256 Lee, Clarence
317, 338 Chen, Jacqueline 86 Gonzalez-Rojas, Paloma 316 Lee, Dong Nyung
307 Chen, Karen 192, 332 Griffin, Danny 124, 144 Lee, Sesil
282 Chen, Yufei 168 Gruber, Paul 116, 145 Lee, So Jung
252 Chu, Chen 322 Guo, Xiangyu 206, 338 Lee, Thaddeus
270 Cinalli, Sydney 276 Ha, Ji Ye 340 Levi, Eytan
212 Clement, Ryan 78 Haridis, Alexandros 305 Li, Diane
176, 340 Cousin, Tim 54 Heard, James 36, 82 Li, Kwan Q
17, 19 Cobb, Dariel 322 Hinkley, Ian 313 Li, Sandra
256 D'Acierno, Charlotte 315, 340 Huttemann, Nina 82 Li, Wuyahuang
234, 326 D'Agostino, Ginerva 168, 330, 336 Idowu, Jola 315, 326 Li,Stephanie
254, 336 Dannin, Isadora 20, 330 Ismail, Mohamed 321 Liu, Clare
152 DeGiulio, Zachariah 326 Iwasaki,Ibuki 68 Liu, Jingyi
104, 142 Donovan, Inge 268 Jhaveri, Nynika 338 Liu, Wa
212 Door, Angie 305 Jones, Faith 338 Liu, Yanjun
56, 326 Dubois, Samuel 264, 336, 338 Jones, Kailin 280, 294 Lo, Kuang-Chun
148, 246 Dueñas Gerritsen, 220 Jurczynski, Emma 164 Loescher-Montal,
Patricia 326 Kaadan, Rania Angela
180, 340 Faber, Olivier 309 Kang, Terry 108, 142 Ma, Jingyun
184 Fan, Zekun 82 Kang, Wonki 176 Marshall, William
64, 326 Fang, Demi 44, 330 Keller, Eliyahu 216, 332 Matthai, Charlotte
240 Filiposyan, Nare 326 Kettner, Katharine 168, 296 May, Sam
42, 326 Flynn, Aidan 310 Kim, Christina 228, 332 McIntosh, Ana
303 Gatta, Audrey 172 Kim, Jayson 172 McKinlay, Sasha
 311
152
48
122, 143
McPherson, Kimberly
Medrano, Mariana
Merzaban, Mandy
Mohan, Sahil
Imprint
148 Moreau, Sacha
26 Moursi, Manar
202 Moyers, Ruth Blair
326, 332 Nahleh, Mohamad
312 Nguyen, Gary
60 Nisar, Muhammad
Hasan
303 Nwigwe, Alexandra
72 O'ladipo, Yesufu
32 Ocampo Aguilar,
Chucho (Jesus)
160 Oh, Yoonjae
196 Ow, Inez
52 Pacheco, Antonio
98, 137 Pankhurst, David
16, 326 Papadopoulou, Athina 220, 297 Song, Alice Jia Li 184 Wang, Yujie
322 Parsons, Olivia 322 Sonner, Jessica 70 Weber, Ramon
176 Pearl, Natalie 224 Sun, Yutan 262 White, David
318 Pipitone, Vanessa 30 Sunder, Aarti 126, 139 Williams, Susan
278 Prachasartta, 194 Sunshine, Gil 17, 46 Winston, ElDante C
Jariyaporn 224 Swagemakers, Jitske 156, 336 Wissemann, Emily
306 Quinn, Hailey 190, 332 Tam, Carolyn 220 Wong, Erin
38, 180 Rajkumar, Vijay 313 Tang, Sandra 256 Woo, Jaehun
317 Rao, John 148 Tasistro-Hart, Benjamin 224 Wood, Ellen
278, 288 Rau, Lasse 314 Teichner, Nicole 338 Wu, Charles
120, 142 Reinhard, Ellen Marie 340 Then, Eva 204 Wu, Jie (Ryan)
322 Roberts, Zachary 314 Timmons, Meghan 321 Wu, Melody
232, 243, 326 Rodrigues, Carol-Anne 128, 140 Titova, Alena 160, 338 Wu, Stewart Haotian
320 Rogers, Marina 238 Torres, Lynced 323 Wu, Wendy
114, 140 Rotman, Katie 312 Toye, Katherine 208, 247 Xu, Zhicheng
304 Rubin, Dana 308 Tumkur Mahesh, Prajwal 210, 338 Xu, Zhifei
310 Rutherford, Emma 130, 143, 326 Ugorji, Amanda 145, 282 Xu, Ziyu
24 Šabanovic, Faruk 309 Vasikaran, Sangita 216, 332, 335 Yacoby, Yaara
164 SadeghiKivi, Ardalan 274, 292 VijayKumar, Mona 316, 326, 338 Yang, Catherine
17 Saha, Indrani 84 Vlavianos, Nikolaos 274, 284 Zanders, Gabriela Degetau
110, 140 Schnitzler, Jenna 216 Waddle, Marisa Concetta 307 Zareno, Kaitlin
58 Scott, Brandon 338, 340 Waitz, Isabel 134, 145 Zeng, Iris
180 Searight, Tristan 118, 141, 338 Wang-Xu, Mackinley 156, 338 Zhang, Daisy Ziyan
304 Seguin, Alexander 320 Wang, Ashley 321 Zhang, Davide
276, 286 Shi, Huiwen 160, 338 Wang, Chloe Yun 319 Zhang, Jenny
198 Sim, Jinyoung 244 Wang, Edward 200, 290 Zhao, Mengqiao
332 Slater, Rebecca 306 Wang, Ivy 96, 138 Zhong, Calvin
311 Smerekanych, Eva 332 Wang, Yiou 34, 326, 338 Zhu, Emma (Yimeng)
50, 332 Soltan, Meriam 132, 144 Wang, Yiqing 338 Zhu, Ziyuan (Zoey)

MIT Architecture Volume 01 Issue 01

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology 2020

Imprint is a publication designed and compiled by graduate

students at MIT Architecture. A collective document that makes
space for every student who chooses to participate, Imprint
privileges breadth and inclusion. It is a material trace that
documents the Department of Architecture over the course of one
semester. Each issue encapsulates current critical and creative
work produced across discipline groups and formats.
 Imprint
Volume 01 Issue 01

MIT Architecture
Imprint 01 is a handshake—a first impression—that is
simultaneously a memory. This inaugural issue, conceived of
during a dispersed and mostly virtual semester, relies on a future
commitment to transform into an ongoing archive. Although the
Department is currently untethered to a single place, building or
region, Imprint 01 is a reflection of a place in time. Collecting and
binding together work from all five branches of the school allows
us a vantage point that had remained inaccessible even when
our hallways and studios were full of energy and conversation.
It is a partial portrait of people illustrated through their work.
Admittedly, our peers cannot be fully encompassed through the
pages of this book, but still this issue is a purposeful supplement
to the many interactions transmitted through the blue light of our
screens. Sprinkled throughout this issue are traces of our usual
circumstances, but more importantly, and in spite of everything,
Imprint 01 is an impression of what we have built together.
Imprint 01

Advisors
Miko McGinty + Nicholas de Monchaux + Amanda Moore

Designers & Editors

Patricia Dueñas Gerritsen + Carol-Anne Rodrigues +
Alice Jia Li Song + Emily Wissemann

Fonts Designed By
Contrast Foundry

ISBN
000-00-0000000-6-5

Printed in Canada
Printed in Italy

© MIT Architecture

All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be reproduced in any

form of by any electronic or mechanical means, including information
storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the
publisher.

Course descriptions were provided by the instructor of the course or

studio; project descriptions were provided by students. All text has
been edited by the editorial team. Visual material was provided by
the author unless otherwise stated.

Contact
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
School of Architecture and Planning
Department of Architecture
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Room 7-337
Cambridge, MA 02139
arch-pub@mit.edu
Content
Index → 002
Foreword ¶ Nicholas de Monchaux → 008
Lecture Series → 016

Art Culture Technology → 022

History Theory Criticism → 040
Building Technology → 062
Computation → 074
Architecture + Urbanism → 088
Undergraduate → 300

Student Groups → 324

Acknowledgments → 342

Art Culture Technology ¶ Through
an integrated approach to pedagogy,
public events programming,
exhibitions, and publications, ACT
builds a community of artist-thinkers
exploring art’s complex relationship to
culture and technology.
History Theory Criticism ¶ This
program aims to produce leading-edge
scholars and intellectuals in the field of
art and architectural history through a
strong emphasis on historiography and
analytical methodologies.
Building Technology ¶ This is a group
of students, faculty and staff working
on design concepts and technologies
to create buildings that contribute to
a more humane and environmentally
responsible built world.
Computation ¶ This program inquires
into the varied nature and practice
of computation in architectural
design, and the ways in which design
meaning, intentions, and knowledge
are constructed through computational
thinking & making.
Architecture + Urbanism ¶ A+U
actively pursues interdisciplinary
collaboration, being keenly aware of
the necessity to learn and borrow from,
as well as to instigate exchange, with
other disciplines.
Undergraduate ¶ The Department of
Architecture offers two undergraduate
majors, Bachelor of Science in
Architecture and Bachelor of Science
in Art and Design, providing a deep and
broad undergraduate education in the
fields of architecture, art and design.

001
 Imprint 01

164 Abou Ras, Ous 212 Door, Angie 310 Kim, Christina
176, 326 Alkhayat, Latifa 56, 326 Dubois, Samuel 172 Kim, Jayson
90, 136 Allen, Christopher 148, 246 Dueñas Gerritsen, 266 Konjicanin, Melika
28, 152 AlMulla, Nada Patricia 172 Koskey, Katie
66 Alvarez, Eduardo Gascón 180, 340 Faber, Olivier 276, 298 Lan, Xuan
19, 326, 332 Alvarez, Xio 184 Fan, Zekun 326 Landez, Daniel
94, 137 Amstutz, Caroline 64, 326 Fang, Demi 256 Lee, Clarence
230 Arenas, Ana 240 Filiposyan, Nare 316 Lee, Dong Nyung
242, 250 Auriyane, Arditha 42, 326 Flynn, Aidan 124, 144 Lee, Sesil
318 Avila, Mariana 303 Gatta, Audrey 116, 145 Lee, So Jung
319 Barakat, Layal 156 Geltman, Julian Escudero 206, 338 Lee, Thaddeus
308 Basinger, Nathan 100, 139 Gideonse, Lauren 340 Levi, Eytan
327 Bayomi, Norhan 102, 139 Giorgis, Adriana 305 Li, Diane
332 Beltrame, Daniela 332 González-Cervantes, 36, 82 Li, Kwan Q
248 Benitez, Adiel Marianna 313 Li, Sandra
212 Boes, Taylor 86 Gonzalez-Rojas, Paloma 82 Li, Wuyahuang
164 Boscolo, Arthur 192, 332 Griffin, Danny 315, 326 Li,Stephanie
76 Bowen, Lu 168 Gruber, Paul 321 Liu, Clare
106, 138 Brazier, Justin 322 Guo, Xiangyu 68 Liu, Jingyi
236, 326, 336, 340 Brearley, Jonathon 276 Ha, Ji Ye 338 Liu, Wa
112, 141, 330, 332 Brice, James 78 Haridis, Alexandros 338 Liu, Yanjun
92, 136 Carriker, Bella Carmelita 54 Heard, James 280, 294 Lo, Kuang-Chun
80 Chatzinikolis, Dimitrios 322 Hinkley, Ian 164 Loescher-Montal,
317, 338 Chen, Jacqueline 315, 340 Huttemann, Nina Angela
307 Chen, Karen 168, 330, 336 Idowu, Jola 108, 142 Ma, Jingyun
282 Chen, Yufei 20, 330 Ismail, Mohamed 176 Marshall, William
252 Chu, Chen 326 Iwasaki,Ibuki 216, 332 Matthai, Charlotte
270 Cinalli, Sydney 268 Jhaveri, Nynika 168, 296 May, Sam
212 Clement, Ryan 305 Jones, Faith 228, 332 McIntosh, Ana
176, 340 Cousin, Tim 264, 336, 338 Jones, Kailin 172 McKinlay, Sasha
17, 19 Cobb, Dariel 220 Jurczynski, Emma 311 McPherson, Kimberly
256 D'Acierno, Charlotte 326 Kaadan, Rania 152 Medrano, Mariana
234, 326 D'Agostino, Ginerva 309 Kang, Terry 48 Merzaban, Mandy
index

254, 336 Dannin, Isadora 82 Kang, Wonki 122, 143 Mohan, Sahil
152 DeGiulio, Zachariah 44, 330 Keller, Eliyahu 148 Moreau, Sacha
104, 142 Donovan, Inge 326 Kettner, Katharine 26 Moursi, Manar

002
 202 Moyers, Ruth Blair 148 Tasistro-Hart, Benjamin
326, 332 Nahleh, Mohamad 314 Teichner, Nicole
312 Nguyen, Gary 340 Then, Eva
60 Nisar, Muhammad 314 Timmons, Meghan
Hasan 128, 140 Titova, Alena
303 Nwigwe, Alexandra 238 Torres, Lynced
72 O'ladipo, Yesufu 312 Toye, Katherine
32 Ocampo Aguilar, 308 Tumkur Mahesh, Prajwal
Chucho (Jesus) 130, 143, 326 Ugorji, Amanda
160 Oh, Yoonjae 309 Vasikaran, Sangita
196 Ow, Inez 274, 292 VijayKumar, Mona
52 Pacheco, Antonio 84 Vlavianos, Nikolaos
98, 137 Pankhurst, David 216 Waddle, Marisa Concetta
16, 326 Papadopoulou, Athina 338, 340 Waitz, Isabel
322 Parsons, Olivia 118, 141, 338 Wang-Xu, Mackinley
176 Pearl, Natalie 320 Wang, Ashley
318 Pipitone, Vanessa 160, 338 Wang, Chloe Yun
278 Prachasartta, 244 Wang, Edward
Jariyaporn 306 Wang, Ivy
306 Quinn, Hailey 332 Wang, Yiou
38, 180 Rajkumar, Vijay 132, 144 Wang, Yiqing
317 Rao, John 184 Wang, Yujie
278, 288 Rau, Lasse 70 Weber, Ramon
120, 142 Reinhard, Ellen Marie 262 White, David
322 Roberts, Zachary 126, 139 Williams, Susan
232, 243, 326 Rodrigues, Carol-Anne 17, 46 Winston, ElDante C
320 Rogers, Marina 156, 336 Wissemann, Emily
114, 140 Rotman, Katie 220 Wong, Erin
304 Rubin, Dana 256 Woo, Jaehun
310 Rutherford, Emma 224 Wood, Ellen
24 Šabanovic, Faruk 338 Wu, Charles
164 SadeghiKivi, Ardalan 204 Wu, Jie (Ryan)
17 Saha, Indrani 321 Wu, Melody
110, 140 Schnitzler, Jenna 160, 338 Wu, Stewart Haotian
58 Scott, Brandon 323 Wu, Wendy
180 Searight, Tristan 208, 247 Xu, Zhicheng
304 Seguin, Alexander 210, 338 Xu, Zhifei
276, 286 Shi, Huiwen 145, 282 Xu, Ziyu
198 Sim, Jinyoung 216, 332, 335 Yacoby, Yaara
332 Slater, Rebecca 316, 326, 338 Yang, Catherine
311 Smerekanych, Eva 274, 284 Zanders, Gabriela Degetau
50, 332 Soltan, Meriam 307 Zareno, Kaitlin
220, 297 Song, Alice Jia Li 134, 145 Zeng, Iris
322 Sonner, Jessica 156, 338 Zhang, Daisy Ziyan
224 Sun, Yutan 321 Zhang, Davide
30 Sunder, Aarti 319 Zhang, Jenny
194 Sunshine, Gil 200, 290 Zhao, Mengqiao
224 Swagemakers, Jitske 96, 138 Zhong, Calvin
190, 332 Tam, Carolyn 34, 326, 338 Zhu, Emma (Yimeng)
313 Tang, Sandra 338 Zhu, Ziyuan (Zoey)

003
 Cambridge, MA USA
914139336

Cambridge, MA USA
ZYZHUX

Somerville, MA USA
OFABER
St. Martin, Caribbean
SMOUREAU

Cambridge, MA USA
CMATTHAI
Seattle, WA USA
EVASMERE

Cambridge, MA USA
JSWAGEMA

Somerville,MA USA
926393630

004
 Boston,MA USA
OHYI
Busaiteen, Muharraq, Bahrain
LATIFA

Steamboat Springs, CO USA

NPEARL

Cambridge, MA USA
CHCAMPO

Boston, MA USA
NAREF
Dayton, OH USA
DFANG

Cambridge, MA USA Cambridge, MA USA

AYRIANE XIO
005
 Cambridge, MA USA
Cambridge, MA USA unknown
KKOSKEY

Cambridge, MA USA
UGORJI

Somerville MA, USA

GELTMANJ

Cambridge, MA USA
Cambridge, MA USA JLSONG
CARODRIG

Cambridge MA, USA

ANAMC

Wuxi, Jaingsu China

006 923359354
 Cambridge, MA USA
EWISSEMA

Boston, MA USA
VGR

Cambridge,MA USA
MSAMP

Cambridge, MA USA
unknown

Princeton Junction, NJ USA Cambridge, MA USA

PDUENASG ERK

Hong Kong, China

CHITAM

007
 Foreword
On March 12, 2020, a few days before MIT went into lockdown, a group
of faculty, students, and staff members stood at a distance from each
other in Killian court, to bid a physical farewell, and affirm a sense of
connection and shared purpose. That day began a journey—apart, but
together—that continues through the present day. That conversation
contained, in miniature as well, all the themes of our life and work since—
of care, of concern, of understanding, and re-examining, the role of
design, and place in a world transformed by crisis.

¶ Thanks to herculean efforts, and similarly olympian

levels of patience, MIT’s Department of Architecture
began to be able to, once more make use of its
physical space this past fall semester. But the
socially distanced use of studios on narrow, three
hour shifts—predicated on the specific weight of
virus particles and their clearance from the air—is
a barely warmed-over substitute for the creative
energy of spaces we usually inhabit. ¶ Even now,
nine months into the pandemic, we continue to
face an essential loss in our ambient and active
engagement with each other’s work in the physical
world. This gap lies most of all in the way in which
good work is collective—informed by those around
us whether in direct collaboration or not. It is to
mark this absence as well as to try to fill it that the
publication you hold was imagined.¶ Advancing
architecture through print and other media is not
new; across cultures, text and drawings have shaped
our profession as much as individual buildings.
Today, our creative and professional discourse is
endlessly mediated, in ways both ephemeral and
enduring. Within the Department, and within the
last nine months, however, much work had to
be done to make this publication happen. While
crucially framed and organized by the Department’s
staff and faculty, the heat and light of creativity that
illuminates the shared spaces of our department
is provided most directly by our students. And it is
they who have shaped what you hold the most. In
workshops over the summer and fall of 2020, they
foreword

diagrammed possibilities, assessed alternatives,

and acquired the skills necessary to manage this

008
 effort. I am particularly grateful to them, as well as
to Miko McGinty, faculty and design lead for these
workshops, and Amanda Moore, the Department’s
communications director, who has helped supervise
this experiment.¶ The fact that you are holding a
physical object is deliberate, and essential. For the
students who have shaped it, the materiality of
our efforts a deliberate rejection of the distancing
ephemerality of the Department this year. At the
same time, it represents a commitment to ensure a
record of this time and this place exists, practically,
into the future. Like the best parts of any community
of learning, however, this publication is a living
conversation. We are publishing two issues this year,
and plan to continue these efforts, in modified form,
going forward, and going back, into the physical life
of our studios, libraries, and offices that—just now—
begins to seem possible.

¶ As we have distanced ourselves from each other, it is perhaps natural that the best
and most essential conversations—captured in the pages you hold—have been about
what connects us in spaces and communities. From the unequal effects of the current
pandemic on institutions and communities, to the larger inequities in our society and
institutions underlined in the last year’s debates and conversations, this is a time we have
considered what unites us—from a distance. My best hope for this Department is that
these conversations continue, even as the separations and injustices that inspired them are
engaged and improved by all of our efforts together.

With thanks and welcome,

Nicholas de Monchaux

Department Head
Cambridge, January 2021

009
010
 Above: Killian Court

Photo: Olivier Faber

March 12, 2020 12:36 PM
Opposite: Studio 3-415
October 18, 2020 6:35 PM
Photo: Daisy Ziyan Zhang

011
012
Photo: Olivier Faber
Below: Studio 7-432
March 15, 2020 10:08 AM
Opposite: N-51 Woodshop
January 21, 2021 3:41 PM
Photo: Emily Wissemann
 013
013
 Photo: Olivier Faber
Right: Infinite Corridor
November 05, 2020 6:18 PM
Opposite: Model Assembly, Kailin Jones
December 29, 2020 4:59 PM
Photo: Emily Wissemann

015
Fall 2020 Our Fall 2020 online public program was a series of
conversations on where we are now. We talked about

Lecture
systemic racism and approaches to support art and
design in Black communities; pandemics, inclusion,

Series
and history; democracy and data; architecture, power,
and democracy; designing for resilience; the refugee
crisis; art, slavery, vernacularism and diplomacy in an
increasingly transnational, yet divided, world.

Derek Ham 09.18

"Forming Spatial Narratives"
Design and Computation
In building VR experiences, Derek Ham draws on
his architectural education as well as theoretical
approaches found in design and computation.
Together they enable him to develop a methodology
for VR storytelling different from most. His
storytelling follows a system of variables, rules, and
schemas. As a result, the virtual narratives he creates
evoke strong emotional responses from viewers.

08m22s ↘ "...when I look to develop these VR experiences,

asking first and foremost, what does it mean to read this
space from these different cultural lenses."
Clockwise from Top Left: Derek Ham,
Athina Papadopoulou, Lawrence Sass, Nicholas
de Monchaux

Veronica Cedillos 10.08

"Designing for Disasters Before They
Happen: A Focus on Underserved
Communities"
Building Technology
GeoHazards International focuses on developing
locally-appropriate mitigation and preparedness
measures informed by the latest science, engineering,
policy, and social science. These include risk-informed
planning and growth, disaster-resistant design and
construction, planning of post-event functionality
of critical infrastructure like hospitals, and science-
informed preparedness. Programs are designed
to be a catalyst for lasting impact by building local
capacity, creating local ownership, and empowering
communities. The vision is a future where
communities can thrive despite natural hazards.

60m53s ↘ "Strong local engagement is critical to ensuring

Clockwise from Top Left: Caitlin Mueller, lasting impact and this is because no one is better placed
Veronica Cedillos, Danniely Staback Rodriguez to speak on whether a certain solution or process is feasible
than local people themselves."

016
Sara Jensen Carr
Michael Murphy
"Embodied Environments"
Architecture and Urbanism
Clockwise from Top Left: Michael Murphy,
John Ochsendorf, Sara Jensen Carr, Rania Ghosn
Charles Davis II
"Black Material Culture in the Round"
History, Theory, and Criticism
Clockwise from Top Left: Charles Davis II,
ElDante C Winston, Indrani Saha, Dariel Cobb
10.15
Our changing understanding of the reciprocal
relationship between the environment and the body is
reflected in the palimpsests of our urban landscape.
Concepts of wellness, disease, and treatment
have influenced urban design from the Industrial
Revolution to today, and the results have ranged
from successful to unintended incubations of the
next generation of illnesses. As we face a rupture in
the parallel histories of public health and the public
realm, examining our built environment through
this lens is necessary to frame today’s most urgent
questions. This talk looked to the past in order to
offer meditations on how the urban landscape must
shift again to address the intertwined issues of our
pandemic present, social justice, and climate change
for a healthier future for all.
39m06s ↘ "I’ve been asked what the supposed pandemic
city looks like. We don’t know yet. We also need to realize
that the built environment can’t address the failures of our
health system [or] inequities in treatment."
10.22
This talk analyzed the racial politics that subtended
the Museum of Modern Art’s 1932 International
Style exhibition, which polemically defined modern
architecture as a progressive social project of the
EuroAmerican avant-garde. The artificial polarities
that were established between so-called “primitive”
and “modern” world cultures has subsequently
trapped the cultural productions of people of color
in a never ending loop of outright dismissal and
cultural appropriation. Revising this definition to
accommodate the modern subjectivities that people
of color have created in the interwar and postwar
periods breaks this loop and opens new grounds for a
revisionist history of architectural modernity.
14m36s ↘ "[Architecture] takes cues from and works
in tandem with many forms of cultural production,
particularly within African American community, where
we’ve seen advances in artistic culture, in dance culture,
in our expressive cultures, and different forms of material
cultures..."
017
 The
Architecture of
Democracy
In collaboration with colleagues from the
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Left to Right, Top: Huma Gupta,
Nicholas De Monchaux, Yasmin Vobis. Left to
Right, Middle: Mark Lee, Iman Fayyad, Michelle
Chang. Left to Right, Bottom: Rafi Segal,
Azra Akšamija.
Eddie Opara
Eric Chang
The Ahmad Tehrani Symposium
Clockwise from Top Left: Eddie Opara, Eric Chang,
Miko McGinty, Nicholas De Monchaux.
018
10.28
In the week before the U.S. general election, Harvard
and MIT shared a public discussion on the role of
architecture in a representative democracy. Azra
Akšamija, Michelle Chang, Nicholas de Monchaux,
Iman Fayyad, Huma Gupta, Mark Lee, Rafi Segal, and
Yasmin Vobis joined in dialogue on the profession’s
role in supporting democratic society, now and in the
future.
12m41s ↘ "Both the practice of architecture, as well as
space itself, have the agency to facilitate and encourage
democratic thinking, and democratic behavior at various
scales. As architects, our highest responsibility is to design
for people. Our actions and decisions do make a difference.
With respect to the process of design, democratic
architecture is one that actively seeks out and mirrors
society’s wants and needs."
11.05
This symposium explored intersections of design
and architecture with a focus on media’s capacity to
bring people together in public space and its role in
society and in civic design. How do architecture and
graphic design communicate to communities, alone
and together? The conversation evolved out of a
collaboration between Opara and Chang, a dynamic
seven-story digital installation at MahaNakhon,
Bangkok‘s tallest tower. While rooted in a specific
collaboration, the conversation’s themes of diversity,
identity, media, and public space are particularly
relevant at a time in which all these issues, and their
intersections, are being re-examined and re-thought.
15m33s ↘ "...the idea of brand is basically really affecting
us within our spaces today—how it becomes really an
important factor of building narrative. And the reason why
this is the case in point is that one looks at graphic design as
oh, you just do logos. Oh, you put a sign on a building. And
that’s not the case anymore, if we really think about it. We
really are embodied within every type of space..."
Ikem S. Okoye
"Elusive Things: Materialities and
Spatialities in the Vicinity of Nigér"
Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture
Clockwise from Top Left: Ikem S. Okoye, Dariel
Cobb, Nasser Rabbat.
Walter Hood
"Hybrid Landscapes"
The 26th Pietro Belluschi Lecture
Clockwise from Top Left: Walter Hood,
Dayna Cunningham, Xio Alvarez, Nicholas de
Monchaux, Lizzie Yarina.
11.12
Architects, architectural historians, and conservators
from across three continents, all pursuing their own
agendas and interests, have worked rather more
intensively in the Sahel over recent years than in the
past, African practitioners included. The context
is one, however, in which architectural histories
that are only ever partial, produced here under
constraint, can leave unreliable interpretations
of the architectural past to which at least some
architects and conservators refer, or from which
they seek inspiration or direction. Overcoming the
reading of historical architecture through the lens
of the traditional conceptualizations of space and
medium with which architectural knowledge has
worked, in favor of critical engagement with dynamic
intersections of spatiality and materiality, and their
forms of situatedness, offer superior ground not only
for historical reconstruction, but for contemporary
architecture and conservation. This might be
especially true, if we do so imagining the possibility of
architectures and historiographies of decoloniality.
11.19
10m48s ↘ "With this idea of the hybrid, I’ve always been
interested in why certain landscapes look a certain way. And
why as designers, we’re always trying to go back to an origin.
And particularly in this country, this moment, helps us to
understand that because in this post-colonial moment, we’re
always referencing the colonial."
12m04s ↘ "I’ve developed these two ideas that I would
like to share the first part of the lecture. This idea of the
intentional hybrid and the organic hybrid, which comes out
of linguistics particularly Bakhtin’s work. But this notion of
can we look at this post-colonial landscape today and be
critical of, linguistically, how culture has actually transformed
space. Then as designers, can we be part of that dialogue?
And this notion of this collision between different points of
view that this internal dialogical idea of fusing the unfusible
by putting two things together is really about difference.
And I do think that that’s a way that we can begin to start to
think about how we want to live together."
019
 Teaching Tech
The Edward and Mary Allen Lecture in
Structural Design
Clockwise from Top Left: Bill Baker, Christine
Theodoropoulos, Caitlin Mueller, Mohamed
Ismail, John Ochsendorf.
Black
Reconstruction
Collective
"Black Futures"
Left to Right, Top: Felecia Davis,
V. Mitch McEwen, Sekou Cooke. Left to Right,
Middle: Olalekan Jeyifous, Amanda Williams, Mario
Gooden. Left to Right, Bottom: J. Yolande Daniels,
Germane Barnes, Emanuel Admassu
020
11.30
This year’s Allen lecture is dedicated to Edward B.
Allen (1938-2020), who together with Mary Allen,
endowed this lecture series a decade ago. The panel
discussion focused on the teaching of building
technology to architects and engineers—Ed’s great
passion and his great contribution to the field of
architecture. Honored by the AIA/ACSA Topaz
Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education,
Ed Allen’s numerous seminal textbooks place
design first and foremost at the center of teaching
technology. Through presentations and discussion
among five panelists who were heavily influenced
by Ed’s teaching and research, the panel identified
challenges and opportunities in the teaching of
architectural technology.
23m51s ↘ "We are, as educators, not there to present
packages of information, but we are there to create
memorable experiences. And in his own teaching, he
modeled the teaching through materials, through the
hands on experience of materials and structures, that has
become really internationalized as best practice in teaching
architectural technologies."
12.03
The Black Reconstruction Collective is Emanuel
Admassu, Germane Barnes, Sekou Cooke, J. Yolande
Daniels, Felecia Davis, Mario Gooden, Walter Hood,
Olalekan Jeyifous, V. Mitch McEwen, and Amanda
Williams. ¶ This livestream event featured members
of the 10-person Black Reconstruction Collective
responding to the question: What is the architecture
of Black futures? Audience participation was invited
in real-time across multiple platforms.
07m37s ↘ "The Black Reconstruction Collective commits
itself to continuing this work of reconstruction in Black
America and these United States. We take up the question
of what architecture can be. Not a tool for imperialism and
subjugation, not a means for aggrandizing the self, but a
vehicle for liberation and joy. The discipline of architecture
has consistently and deliberately avoided participation
in this endeavor, operating in complicity with repressive
aspects of the current system. That ends now."
Opposite: Long Lounge 7-429
January 21, 2021 2:07 PM
Photo: Emily Wissemann
ACT
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism
4.323 4.362 4.390
Through an integrated approach to pedagogy, public events
programming, exhibitions, and publications, ACT builds a community
of artist-thinkers exploring art’s complex relationship to culture and
technology.
4.323
Introduction to Three-
Dimensional Art Work
¶ Critic: Tobias Putrih ¶
TA: Ardalan SadeghiKivi
Art Culture Technology
Selected Course Descriptions
4.362
Performance Art
Workshop ¶ Critics: Jesal
Kapadia, Marlena Fauer ¶
TA: Ruth Blair Moyers
022
Building Technology
4.412 4.619
We will look into the history of art,
computation, and computational
art. We will dive into the world of
fictional classifications, unreliable
predictions, and simulations of
unpredictability. We will also try to
broaden our fuzzy understanding
of how a computer was and
could be (mis)used to make art
in the future. ¶ The first goal of
the class is to assemble personal
material libraries or idiosyncratic
collection of things. The second
goal is to conceptually grasp how
AI’s strategies and techniques are
influencing contemporary art or
could be used to produce objects
and spaces. We will examine
personal libraries’ characteristics
and parallelly perform time-based
experiments, choreographed
operations, and tutorials, using
motion graphics, physics engines,
agent-based models, and machine
learning. ¶ The class’s final
assignment is to employ these
strategies for individual projects
to design and fabricate three-
dimensional objects.
→P. 034
Performance Art Workshop will
study performance in relation to
our body as a space of resistance,
as well as the collective body and
its powers. Exploring performance
art in its expanded sense, we
will enact gestures of care,
commoning and conviviality, a call
and response—in the tradition of
Ivan Illich, Gayatri Spivak, Silvia
Federici, Fred Moten and many
others—through a collective praxis
 Computation
4.661
4.390
Art, Culture and
Technology Studio ¶
Critics: Judith Barry, Nida
Sinnokrot ¶ TA: Jitske
Swagemakers
4.s33
Synchronization of the
Senses ¶ Critic: Reneé
Green ¶ TA: Emma
(Yimeng) Zhu
Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.s33 4.s52 Other
tied to the creation of decolonized acts in preparation for shifts in
ways of relating to the social and to epistemic performances are the
each other. Constructing a space tasks we will perform.
for an engaged playful dialogue
around radical listening, retrieving
attention to details of our dreams,
reclaiming our sources, our here
and now, and converting everyday →P. 026
Explores the theory and criticism
of intersections between art,
culture, and technology in relation
work. Regular presentation and
peer-critique sessions, as well
as reviews involving ACT faculty
to contemporary artistic practice, and fellows, and external guest
critical design, and media. reviewers provide students with
Students consider methods of ample feedback as their projects
investigation, documentation, develop.
and display and explore modes of
communication across disciplines.
Students develop projects in
which they organize research
methods and goals, engage in
production, cultivate a context for
their practice, and explore how
to compellingly communicate,
display, and document their →P. 030
Synchronizations of Senses
(SOS), a seminar/workshop/
studio/study group/conversation,
Ha and others, the intention of
this course is to create a space
for experimentation, exploratory
is a complement to Cinematic discussion and productions via
Migrations. This class invites aesthetic inquiry into perceptions
in-depth examination of sense of all senses.
percepts, noting nuances, and
articulating specificities. A
generative focus is placed on the
practices of varied practitioners–
film directors, artists, musicians,
composers, architects, designers–
whose writings relay a process
of thinking and feeling integral
to their forms of material
production. ¶ Using prompts
suggesting varying contexts,
such as The Film Sense, written
by Sergei Eisenstein, and The
Cinema Interval, written by Trinh
T. Minh-Ha, in addition to other
writings by Eisenstein and Minh- →P. 038
023
faruk
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Faruk Šabanovic
SMACT Candidate ¶ Independent Research

“sense
Touch Fiction ¶ Touch became an endangered
in 2020. How do we preserve it? How do we
keep in touch? During the pandemic in 2020, I moved
to LA from the MIT campus. These were some of the
loneliest days of my life. Using web technologies,
touchscreens, and microcontrollers connected
with home-found objects like gloves, paper clips,
straws, and pencils, I started building an automaton
theatre on my desktop. I wanted to host a tangible
scenery beyond the flat cold screens, inviting my
friends around the world to my living room. I asked
them to reach for their screens, and the touch will

024
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other
be transmitted for thousands of miles in real time
to move a glove blown up with my own breath and
mimic that touch in LA. ¶ Using animation principles
and math of inversed kinematics, I connected four
straws with needles and paperclips to create a
painting robot that would interpret their motion
and store these gestures on a scroll of paper. Then
I multiplied the same construction in an array of
straws that could reach any point in space above the
contraption and expanded the algorithm to create a
complex choreography from simple motion and data.
¶ This growing maquette is an automaton theatre, a
pop-up book, a kinetic sculpture, shadow theatre, a
robotic streaming platform for stories of all senses.
The point of contact between the mind and the
paper transforms the imagination into action that is
compressed, transported, unpacked, and felt on the

”
other side.

025
mmoursi
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Manar Moursi
SMArchS Candidate ¶ AKPIA ¶ 4.362 Performance Art Workshop ¶ Critic: Jesal Kapadia

In this work, I am considering the PROMPT 1:

materiality of air, our connection
and continuity with this medium— To begin, find a comfortable position.
thinking through this work of Become aware of how your body feels.
notions of collective agency Take a deep breath in, and as you exhale,
and interdependency—on an
Let your body begin to relax.
environmental and extended body
scale.
Scan your body.

With the next inhalation, if you notice that your top and bottom teeth
are touching,
part them.

If your tongue touches the roof of your mouth,

soften it down and away
And your eyebrows, might they rest too?
Or if not, notice if you can feel their weight for a moment

Like your bottom teeth, tongue, eyes, and eyebrows, notice your
shoulders
can there be any amount more space between your shoulders and ears
Can your shoulders let go a little with each exhale?
Any amount is good.

Notice if this next exhale can last any amount longer than the last.
Your exhale will always follow your inhale and your inhale will always
follow your exhale.
Maybe put one hand on your belly or chest to feel your breath in your
body.
Maybe feel breath above your lip or below your nose
Tingling the hairs of your nostrils.
Relax your eyebrows again,
Your jaw
Your ears.
Maybe listen to the sound of your body breathing
Notice all the parts of you that rest to any surface like the floor, chair,
or bed
Notice all the parts that don’t.

Scrunch your face together

Pull all your facial muscles tightly to the center.
Make a sound
And then release all your facial muscles.

If you are standing, notice how your shoulders can soften towards
your feet and your feet into the floor.

026
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other

Take another deep breath in.

This time, visualize the air entering your body.
Does it have particles?
What do they look like?
Now imagine the journey of one of these particles through your body as
you inhale.
Exhale deeply, maybe through your mouth.
Did that particle make it out?
Has it changed after entering your body?

Now imagine your body dissolving slowly and gently into the air.
You release your skin, your organs, everything is lighter
And floating in air.

You are now the air, you are the surroundings.

You engulf everyone.
You can be penetrated by a person, or a plane.
Did a flock of birds just fly through you?

You are transformed by something.

Something has changed your nature.
Is it smoke?
Are you cold? Are you humid?
Are you heavy? Do you smell?
What do you smell of?
What color are you?

What sounds do you make?

Listen to the sounds around you.

You are wind.

How many directions are blowing at the same time?
Gravity is pulling you down,
But you move across space quickly.

You arrive with dust to a town.

You make the inhabitants sleepy.
Exhale deeply.
Sigh.

Open your eyes.

Close them again.
Scan your body.
Where did this air go?

027
nalmulla
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Nada Almulla
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.362 Performance Art Workshop ¶ Critic: Jesal Kapadia

Walking Anew x Nada:

A Short Story I.

The year was 1957. Adjacent to a quiet street in the

west of Paris stood a rustic red door that opened to a
room all its own. The walls were dressed in a filigree
of gears and desiccated peonies, an assortment of
kintsugi plates spread below the gilded cornices,
and adorning the center was an exquisite, broken
pendulum clock that told the truth twice a day. The
space was a celebration of four walls supporting one
another and a wealth of histories inscribed within
a collection of found parts—a sanctuary of modern
ruins. Not a spot on the walls was left uncovered by
an object brought back from the dead. The room
was their space of redemption after a life spanning
the short-lived desire of a society. The room was
their space to right the wrongs of modernity by
transforming into mechanical remedies that could
mend society’s ailment.

This was a space of a gleaner. The gleaner was called

Anne Rosseau.

028
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other

II.

Anne Rousseau found herself in Paris by way of

her great grandparents moving from Morocco to
France in 1845, following the 1844 Bombardment
of Tangiers by the French navy. She grew up with a
borrowed memory of a home beyond the sea, but
made of Paris a home by constructing a world of
her own. One cold evening, as she was walking back
from her gleaning ritual following a path new to her,
Anne found herself treading a wet street in the same
direction as a group of women and men. This stroll
home put into words a thought that had lived in
the back of her mind for a long while; the cognizant
deconstruction of modern society. Anne found a
lot of commonality between their tenets and her
expectation of the world, as she had always found no
sense in how her mother spent her youth working at
a textile mill, making linen she could not afford, for
people who did not care to know her name.

Anne frequented that same path every night

following.

III.

On her table of creation sat her latest project:

bearings, camshafts, and the remnants of an
automobile engine—parts found by the mouth of a
nearby river in a halo of iridescent oil. On her table
sat stories of estrangement and lost desires. The
parts spoke their past, they were but a mediator of
human interaction, a commodity colonizing life and
stratifying society. They spoke of the dissolution
of laborers from their thoughts, their agency, their
humanity. Anne had a plan; this was to be a helmet
of expression. With the gear twists and bearing
rolls comes a state of clarity, of deconstruction
and realization of one’s agency. The helmet was to
collect its own stories—its own victories.

029
aartisun
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Aarti Sunder
SMACT Candidate ¶ 4.390 Art, Culture and Technology Studio ¶ Critics: Judith Barry, Nida Sinnokrot,
Katarina Burin

“interested
We Owe Each Other Everything ¶ This film is
in the question of labor and exhaustion
and is set around conversations with Uber/Lyft
drivers, aquarium attendants, restaurant workers
and IT professionals in Dubai. The film relies on the
metaphor of the fish and the aquarium as a means
to bridge the gap between human and non-human
fatigue. This work is an attempt to craft a counter-
viewpoint, using the very material of excess:
exhaustion that ensures repetitive inertia, where the

”
fatigued already seem artificial.

030
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other

031
chocampo
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Chucho (Jesus) Ocampo Aguilar

SMACT Candidate ¶ 4.390 Art, Culture and Technology Studio ¶ Critics: Judith Barry, Nida Sinnokrot,
Katarina Burin

“reimagine
Interfaz aims to formulate a methodology to
new ways of experiencing not only the
city but our relation to more that human entities,
infrastructure, law and sense making apparatuses.
¶ The ongoing set of Interfaces try to understand
found structures (physical, architectonical,
visual or sonic) from a series of drifts to create
new narrative combinations and structures. The
intention of this exercise is not only to be able to
disrupt linear narratives from our experience of the
built environment but also preconceptions around
scale, use, function, migration, citizenship and
movement.
”

Top: Photogrammetry as Maps. Left: Interfaz 01 moving

duplicator. Opposite Top: Interfaz 04 radiestesic and water
finding interface; Interfaces 02,03, and 04. Opposite
Bottom: Spectral frequency display.

032
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other

033
emmazhu
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Emma (Yimeng) Zhu

SMACT Candidate ¶ 4.390 Art, Culture and Technology Studio¶ Critics: Judith Barry, Nida Sinnokrot,
Katarina Burin ¶ 4.323 Intro to 3D Art Work ¶ Critic: Tobias Putrih

“presents
The In-between Space ¶ This research project
the process of exploring the in-between
Top: JPEG-DWG-3DM-STL-GCODE (aka 3d
printer). Opposite Top: MP4-JPEG-RCP-PTS (aka
space of human and machine imagination. A photogrammetry). Opposite Top: JPEG-JPEG/PNG/MP4
(aka StyleGAN2). Opposite Bottom: JPEG-DWG-3DM-
pre-trained GAN2 human face model is re-trained JPEG (aka rendering engine).
with a dataset of architectural plan diagrams. The
images and videos generated from the training
are then taken onto an endless trip of dialoguing
between machine and human.
”

034
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other

035
que
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Kwan Q Li
SMACT Candidate ¶ 4.s33 Synchronization of the Senses ¶ Critic: Reneé Green

“scripts
O is a 11-minute stop-motion video. Narration
are excerpted from a corresponding essay
revolving around notions of amnesia, tragedy,
lunacy, poetry and insomnia. Images used in the
video were collected during a real-life metro journey
when stations were abruptly shut down due to
social unrest, putting passengers into an endless
loop.
”

036
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other

037
vgr
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Vijay Rajkumar
SMACT Candidate ¶ 4.s33 Synchronization of the Senses ¶ Critic: Reneé Green

“projects
Light as a Wave and Experiment 715 are two Bottom: Light as a Wave is an autobiographic reflection on
proximity and memory during the year 2020, composed
conducted through the Iridescence from found video and audio from a personal archive.
Research Lab in 2020. The lab facilitates a Opposite: Experiment 715 is a time-specific 3-channel
collaborative practice that explores, through a video installation composed of a livestream sandwiched
variety of formats, the possibilities of material and between footage of the same scene displaced by 1 minute
cultural "iridescence." These experiments open recorded on a previous day.
architectural and artistic processes to engagements
with uncertainty, blurriness, improvisation, and
constructive interference (i.e dissonance) as tools,
among others, for defense, attraction and creative
agency.
”

038
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other

039
HTC
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619
This program aims to produce leading-edge scholars and intellectuals
in the field of art and architectural history through a strong emphasis on
historiography and analytical methodologies.

4.619
Historiography of Islamic
Art and Architecture¶
Critic: Nasser Rabbat ¶
TA: Manar Moursi
History Theory Criticism
The class is a Critical review
of literature on Islamic art and
architecture in the last two
centuries. Analyzes the cultural,
disciplinary, and theoretical
contours of the field and

highlights the major figures that

have influenced its evolution.
Challenges the tacit assumptions
and biases of standard studies of
Islamic art and architecture and
addresses historiographic and
critical questions concerning how
knowledge of a field is defined,
Selected Course Descriptions

produced, and reproduced. ¶ It is

essentially a historiography class
with a focus on Islamic art and
architecture. Methodologically
though, the readings, discussions,
and requirements are designed to
help graduate students in general,
not just those studying Islamic
architecture, think about some
questions: how do areas of inquiry
come into being and evolve; how
interpretations are formulated
in specific contexts and within
specific intellectual and political
frameworks, how do ideas and
narratives grow, transform, and
spread over time and through
which agency; how and when
do they become disciplines with
established traditions, modes
of thinking, and accepted forms
of inquiry; and finally how can
we critique, revise, or build upon
established disciplinary traditions.

→P. 050

040
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other

4.661
Theory and Method in the
Studies theoretical and
historiographical works pertaining
to the fields of art and architectural
cohorts" and worked on critical
race theory, and eco-criticism,
as bibliographies we could build
Study of Architecture and history. Members of seminar together. We also innovated
Art ¶ Critic: Caroline A pursue work designed to examine "passion votes" for works in these
Jones ¶ TA: Delanie Linden their own presuppositions and fields that changed our own.
methods. In our pandemical fall
semester, we formed "solidarity →P. 052

041
aflynn
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism
4.323 4.362 4.390
Aidan Flynn
SMArchS Candidate ¶ HTC ¶ Independent Research
On Positionality: Postmodern Musings
on Early Modern Art
What do you see in Domenico Cresti’s Bathers
at San Niccolò? On the surface, most viewers
encounter the same event: men swimming and
lounging along the Arno River in Florence, Italy. Is
this a snapshot of Renaissance bathing culture?
Or, is this a gay cruising spot for my early modern
predecessors? To me, the picture functions much
like Alice’s looking-glass through which I happily
and hesitantly fall through. It is a boundary between
two worlds that are one in the same—time is
almost meaningless, while the queer-identifying
viewer’s affect means everything. I see two proleptic
queer epochs: 1600 is 2021, and vice versa in
an experiential, emotional sense for the queer
viewer. A provocative statement, indeed, but this
entry seeks to question, not answer, our queer
experiences across time and space. Despite the
historical fissures within our linear conceptualization
of time, what is the difference between same-sex
eros then and now? Do love and lust change over
time? Is the premodern queer person’s experience—
their anxieties and fears of public surveillance and
punishment for ‘deviant’ sexuality—any different
than now? Can my life experience today—a
collective queer consciousness of the 1970's and
80s bathhouse raids—be reflected back through a
painting completed over four hundred years ago?
This personal essay seeks to abandon rigid
historiography and discourse in an effort to highlight,
embrace, and question issues of queer positionality
that the academy often deems anachronistic. This is
not to say that postmodern readings of early modern
images are inherently sound and not anachronistic.
Indeed, this subject matter is a thin line to traverse
in the academic world and careful considerations,
punctuated by explanatory footnotes, must be
made. That being said, in this experimental essay I
042
Building Technology
4.412 4.619
Above: Domenico Cresti, Bathers at San Niccolò,
1600, private collection
ask: can my positionality as a gay man contribute to
a new, perhaps more generative reading of Bathers
at San Niccolò?
Cresti (called Passignano) invites us to join his
bathers in a seemingly jovial moment. We can
imagine ourselves splashing about on a hot
summer’s day, enjoying the weather and company
of friends. In the middle ground, we encounter a
bathhouse with towels hanging to dry, and bathers
moving up and down a staircase as they enter
and exit the muddy waters. The built structures
are contrasted with a lush, seemingly untouched
landscape. Trees populate rolling hills that meet the
horizon and a cloudy sky. Is a storm approaching?
There are no women, only men. They move like
dancers across a liquid stage. At the left foreground,
men stack themselves on top of each other, feet
supported by shoulders, bodies linked by holding
hands, as if playing an early modern version of
ring-around-the-rosie. Their counterparts on the far
right also link arms, wading through the inky waters
in a circular motion. These naked and nearly-naked
bodies resemble antique statues, sculpted and
beautiful—an ideal. Passignano carefully uses light
and shadow to illuminate tantalizing musculature,
revealing and concealing the buttocks, chiseled
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism
4.661 4.s33
biceps, triceps, calves and pecs. Male-male desire
and intimacy is potent, beautiful, exciting. Was the
premodern viewer to be aroused or revolted?
The couple in the foreground emphasize this
sexualized tension. The two are locked in ardent
gaze: swimmer and sitter. The latter’s bright flesh
draws in our attention. His skin contrasts with
overcast skies, dark waters, and shadowy buildings.
Seated on silky fabrics and crowned with a straw
hat, the sitter is intimately met by his swimming
counterpart. Their hands nearly touching, the
swimmer shoots upward like a dolphin, gazing into
the sitter’s face with his torso pushed up against
his partner’s crotch. Does this moment of contact
suggestively simulate the moments before oral sex,
or is he simply saying ciao? The couple’s sensual
encounter is disrupted, however, by the seated man’s
gesture: he motions upward. Where is he pointing?
Most art historians have suggested the sitter’s
gesture as a guiding directive to his partner and the
viewer: look toward the bathhouse. To me, however,
the spatial motion is not so clear; rather, the sitter’s
pointed hand suggests fear, silence, surveillance.
I hail from Toronto, Canada. In February 1981 the
Metropolitan Police arrested nearly 300 queer-
identifying men in bathhouses within the same
neighborhoods (‘gayborhoods’) that I frequent
today. Here, the “bawdy-house” laws that proscribed
sexual persecution were not overturned until 2019.1
When I see Bathers, I interpret the foreground
figures as anxious queer men, questioning: are we
safe here? Is there somewhere we can love in safety?
These questions are magnified by Patricia Lee
Rubin’s thoughtful connections between premodern
Florentine bathing culture and the arrests made
by the Ufficiali di Notte (the magistracy charged
with prosecuting sodomites). A boy reported
that his friend “taught him how to swim – and
sodomized him many times during their lessons on
the Arno.”2 Can we consider the sitter’s gesture as
one of anxiety? Is he motioning to safety, as if to
suggest that the two cannot express love in such
a public space? The sitter clearly engages with his
swimmer, but not as longingly as the latter. Does my
positionality as a gay man remind me of this fearful
Undergraduate
4.s52 Other
gesture? I empathize to my own modern extent. I
traverse the city with or without a partner constantly
wondering, “are my jeans too tight? Do I look gay?
Are my partner and I safe in this neighborhood? Can
we safely hold hands? Will today be the end?” It
is sad to ponder such questions, but these are my
experiences.
Seeking an understanding of such positionality,
I defer to art historian James M. Saslow, a self-
identified gay man working on Renaissance art.
Saslow, in an essay on an infamously ‘sodomitical’
Italian painter, writes,
I have sought in Sodoma [Gianantonio Bazzi] not a
mirror-image, but a family resemblance. He is ‘usable’
as our ancestor: someone with whom we share an
identifiable lineage of desire and self-expression,
in whose...life we can recapture the origins of an
increasingly prominent familial trait [of the queer
community].3
Is Passignano a ‘usable’ ancestor? Perhaps not
with his identity but his subject matter. I encounter
Bathers as a bather. That is to say, I behold the
image as a descendant within a challenging queer
lineage. Is this an early modern testimonial on queer
love and persecution? Leaving identity politics aside,
does this picture necessitate a queer reading? Can
we productively invoke the writings of Foucault,
Butler, Sedgwick in reading this object? Is 1600
Florence also 1981 Toronto? There are differences,
challenges, huge temporal expanses, but in the
end: is persecution and the viewer’s identifiable
relationship with the image (then/now) any
different? Let us converse, explore, challenge.
1
''An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Department of Justice Act and
to make consequential amendments to another Act, SC 2018, c 29,'' https://
canlii.ca/t/53j9v.
2
Patricia Lee Rubin, Seen from Behind: Perspectives on the Male Body and
Renaissance Art (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018), 109; Michael
Rocke, Forbidden Friendships: Homosexuality and Male Culture in Renaissance
Florence (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), Archivio di Stato di Firenze,
Ufficiali di Notte 30, fol. 61v.
3
James M. Saslow, ''Gianantonio Bazzi, called ‘Il Sodoma’: Homosexuality in
Art, Life, and History,'' in Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in Renaissance Italy, eds.
Jacqueline Murray and Nicholas Terpstra (New York: Routledge, 2019), 203.
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Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
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Eliyahu Keller
PhD Candidate ¶ HTC ¶ Dissertation Research ¶ Advisor: Timothy Hyde ¶ Committee Members: Ana Miljački,
Mark Jarzombek

Drawing Apocalypse: Architectural

Imagination in the Nuclear Age
This is an excerpt
of a longer piece
by the same name.

In front of you is a collaged photo from a volume
published by the United States government, and
titled ‘Bombs at Bikini: The Official Report of
Operation Crossroads.’ The book, which came out
shortly after the conclusion of the 1946 nuclear
experiments in the Marshall Islands, collected
images and text with the sole purpose, according
to the publication’s director, of presenting ''facts
on the origin, planning, and execution of the joint
enterprise.''1 Supported by technical descriptions and
documentary footage aiming to reinforce its scientific
nature, the volume, somewhat surprisingly, ends with
an apocalyptic revelation: this image, the last of 32
plates, the only clearly manipulated photograph in the
entire book.
Now rather than speaking to its clear content, I would
like to focus on the way this content is delivered.
Namely, its already noted context—the propagandist,
yet supposedly scientific document—but more
importantly, the representational technique which it
employs to convey its meaning—in this case, scale.
The caption here is cardinal. It reads:
''Composite photograph roughly comparing the
Test B cauliflower cloud with New York skyscrapers.
An exact comparison would be even more extreme.
The cauliflower cloud, nearly two miles in diameter,
would overshadow a considerable portion of
Manhattan. It requires little study to appreciate
catastrophic destruction.''2
nuclear cloud is juxtaposed against the world’s
tallest building, itself centered in the middle of
the biggest city, of what was then the world’s
greatest empire. The architecture, in its pale
comparison, provides a kind of reason to fall back
onto, a moment of comprehension in face of the
most devastating weapon humanity has ever
devised. A symbol of American exceptionalism
and financial power, this architectural icon is not
only physically threatened by the image of the
explosion. Rather, situated against the destruction
yielded by the very same positivistic progress, it
becomes a measure not of the nation’s power,
but of the inherent destructiveness that comes
hand in hand with it; a paradoxical architectural
sign, with the help of which, one can understand
the sublime, immeasurable, incomprehensible
scale of nuclear devastation. Architecture is no
longer a representation of progress, innovation,
capital or even shelter; architecture is a measure of
apocalypse.

What we see then is not merely an image of

potential destruction but rather a comparison 1
Preface by W. A. Shurcliff, Historian of Joint Task Force One in Bombs at Bikini:
The Official Report of Operation Crossroads (New York: W. H. Wise & CO:
that employs architecture in a project of sublime
1947), iii.
representation. The incomprehensibility of the 2
Bombs at Bikini, Plate 32.

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Below: Shurcliff,
William A., and
United States
Joint Task Force
One. Bombs
at Bikini; the
Official Report
of Operation
Crossroads. W. H.
Wise, New York,
1947.

045
eldante
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

eldante c winston
PhD Candidate ¶ HTC ¶ Independent Research ¶ Advisor: Lauren Jacobi

Palazzo Punishment: Architecture and

Execution in Renaissance Italy
This is an abstract
of an essay by
the same name.

The Italian Renaissance palazzi, characterized

by their symmetrical and well-ordered facades
of classically ordered pilasters, illustrate a clear
departure from fortified medieval structures and
Above: Palazzo del have come to represent the humanistic tenants of
Podesta, Bologna elegance and decorum. Moreover, the Renaissance
(2019). Image by Palazzo has become synonymous with Renaissance
Author. Opposite:
Illustration of
wealth and status; their owners were lauded as
the Execution of patrons and benefactors of a new age. Yet, such
Hugh the Younger narratives overlook how palaces were sites where
Despenser, from violent acts, indicative of the cultural and social
a manuscript milieu of the Renaissance, occurred. The family
of Froissart
(Bibliotheque
patriarch wielded fierce power and authority,
Nationale MS Fr. sanctioning punishments as a means of justice.
2643, folio 11r). The most egregious practices included vendetta
assaults and public executions by hanging; when
men dangled from windows of famed Renaissance
palazzi, the bodies purposefully left on display for
hours. British architectural historian Robin Evans has
argued that architecture embodies contemporary
realities and functions; palazzi, therefore, can be said
to instrumentalize violence.

This essay examines three Renaissance palazzi

as architectures of punishment—punishment
understood as the infliction of pain and even death.
The executions that occurred at these palazzi—
Palazzo del Podestà in Bologna, the Palazzo Farnese
in Rome, and the Palazzo Farnese in Piacenza—are
viewed as violent enactments of punitive justice.
This vision of punishment not only calls into
question legitimacy but also draws attention to the
perception of social relationships. Author David
Riche argues that the legitimacy of violence depends

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on one’s position as either performer, victim, or produce pain and thus assumes moral judgment. The
witness. The concept, however, fails to consider Italian Renaissance palazzo, when recognized as a
the physical space of violence. Adding space as a vehicle for corporal punishment, becomes symbolic
factor to this triad, I argue that architecture aids in of Renaissance morality, rather than just ideas of
the determination of legitimacy, yet also raises the authority, justice, and legitimacy.
question of morality; particularly for the witness—the
citizen gathered in the piazza viewing the atrocity.
Attention is drawn to the window; it is more than an
instrument of vision, like a door, it is both spatial and
liminal. The static body of the victim framed within
it marks the moment when the architecture is set to

047
merzaban
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism
4.323 4.362 4.390
Mandy Merzaban
SMArchS Candidate ¶ AKPIA ¶ Thesis Research ¶ Advisor: Renée Green ¶ Reader: Jesal Thakkar Kapadia
Walid Raad aka Suha Traboulsi: On
feminist methodologies and the discourse
of Modern Arab Art
Suha Traboulsi is the name of an avant-garde Arab
female modernist artist that does not exist. She does
exist however in the imagination of an established
Lebanese-American artist, Walid Raad, who has
invented her as his avatar. In 2014, she emerged
within Raad’s practice and is among a roster of
invented personas he has offered over the course
of a thirty year career. Traboulsi is presented as an
Palestinian conceptual artist working in painting
and performance that has seemingly eluded
historicization. One of my own interests in Raad’s
multidisciplinary body of work, particularly pieces
that summon the name of Suha Traboulsi, is how to
consider this artist-avatar relation through a feminist
lens. One that attempts to locate how women's labor
is considered, used and perhaps even repressed
in this manner of use. What does it mean for a
simulacrum of a woman artist to operate within a
male practice that is lending itself to a fictionalized
feminine one? Can this inquiry be useful in thinking
about the ways women artists are inscribed into the
canon of modern Arab art?
Walid Raad’s practice primarily involves installation
and lecture-performance. The underlying operation
of these practices frequently pivots on constructing
meta-narrative critique. He is most well known for
two significant bodies of work, the first called The
Atlas Group (1989-2004) and the other Scratching
on things I could disavow: A History of Art in the
Arab World (2007- present). The first, of which he is
most well known, is a fictive Beirut based foundation
of researchers who collect, document and analyze
materials of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-
1991). The project contains collections of archival
documents, photographs, notes and videos to create
a fictional archive.
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Raad remained the spokesperson of The Atlas
Group for a few years before it was revealed not
to exist. And after this initial revelation of trickery,
it has become an expectation in his work that his
anecdotes and materials toggle truth and fiction. The
expanse of this project treads this rather non-binary
relation to question the very nature and veracity of
historical records.
Raad’s work contains a myriad of moving parts.
Sometimes these moving parts are bodies. The
invention of characters sometimes serve as proxies
for the artist, and they come and go as stand-ins
and collaborators, who corroborate his research and
anecdotes. The second body of work, Scratching on
Things I Could Disavow: A History of Art in the Arab
World, is where we sometimes find Suha Traboulsi.
In this series Raad traces the ways in which the art
of the ''Arab world'' is being codified and circulated
in global art institutions, particularly since the early
2000s. The early 2000s is also a period of time that
is densely populated with events that enveloped
public attention toward the Arab world that include
the attacks of September 11th, the US-led invasion
of Iraq in 2004, the Arab Uprisings of 2011 onward,
among many others. The initiation of this project in
2007 aligns with the proliferation of art institutions
and the acceleration of the Middle East art market.
Considerable attention in Scratching...pivots on the
emergence of Western satellite museums, such
as the Louvre Abu Dhabi, opened in 2017, and the
amassing and displays of art collections that have
proliferated in the Arabian peninsula.
This emergence is also close to me as a researcher,
having been a minor agent within this development.
Particularly in the formation of a private regional art
collection shaped around the notion of an ''Arab art''
1
Ahmed, Sara. Living a Feminist Life. Duke University Press, 2017, pp. 27.
2
Ibid., 23.
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism
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based in the United Arab Emirates.
In this work for instance, maximized replicas of
the same collection are painted on large, empty
crates that are stacked against each other. As the
fiction goes, these crates were found in Rome
in 2002 and after a great deal of research Raad
was able to uncover their maker, Suha Traboulsi.
Interviewing her in 2012, he learned that between
1952 and 1974 she was the Chief Registrar of Public
Collections of the Lebanese Ministry of Culture,
as political figures swindled art from the national
collection. The missing works, meant for the never
realized albeit fictional Museum of Modern Art in
Beirut, provoked Traboulsi to paint a replica of each
one that disappeared on a wooden crate. And in a
superstitious attempt to attract the exiled paintings
back, she shipped them to countries she thought the
paintings were taken against their will.
The impetus of my own inquiry with this particular
manifestation summons in me, what feminist
scholar Sara Ahmed calls a ''feminist gut''. Whereby,
''a feminist gut might sense something is amiss.
You have to get closer to the feeling; but once
you try… how quickly it can recede.''1 My niggling
contention with the invention of this avatar begins
with this sense of something being amiss within this
gendered relation and my own body’s unarticulated
familiarity. In a sense this is an exercise of putting a
''body into words''.2
Traboulsi’s emergence echoes the writing of
histories around the discourse of modern Arab art
that has gradually increased since the early 2000s.
This includes art historical scholarship, but perhaps
even more so in major museum exhibitions, art
criticism and art market. Various art institutions have
proliferated in the MENA region, particularly in the
Undergraduate
4.s52 Other
Arabian peninsula, that include museums, private
collections, galleries, art centers, biennials, fairs and
auction houses. Meanwhile an emerging recognition
of global art modernisms has taken place and more
attention on artists outside the Western canon have
entered a field of view in art historical scholarship.
One of the key premises of Raad’s Scratching...
project critiques the ways art institutions codify the
artistic output of the Arab region into seemingly
distinct categories of ''modern'' and ''contemporary
art''. At times the way Raad draws attention to the
normative power of codification is to exaggerate or
de-naturalize what is seemingly neutral or expected
in a museum setting. Underlying this critique is a
concern with an obliviousness to the implicit, often
Orientalist structures that frame cultural objects,
particularly as they circulate. Traboulsi echoes
missing links in the recognition of women’s labor and
women artists represented in the canon of Modern
Arab art.
So the question is, who is Suha Traboulsi? One
answer is that she is Walid Raad. She is also a
manifestation of an art historian or curator’s desire
to uncover ‘lost’ artists. As an invention, she raises
certain questions about the ways this invocation of
a missing history is contained within the search to
historicize and exhibit artists outside the Western
canon. Much of the critical attention and reverence
around Raad’s work pivots on his ability to offer
prompts for questioning institutional and inherited
knowledge. Often to the extent that there is a way of
speaking about him that is immersed in the various
well orchestrated theoretical registers operating
in his work. As Raad tells us, Traboulsi greatly
influences his practice and was once considered ''the
witch of contemporary art'' in the 1970s. Seemingly
rescuing her from oblivion, she is also beholden to
the architecture of his artistic output. In stepping out
of this ruse ever so slightly, I’d like to parse the power
dynamics at play in the invention and occlusion of
Traboulsi rather than accepting her as a mere device
in a complex production.
Top: Raad, Walid. “Yet more letters to the reader.”
Scratching on things I could disavow, 2015.
https://www.scratchingonthings.org.
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msoltan
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism
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Meriam Soltan
SMArchS Candidate ¶ AKPIA ¶ 4.619 Historiography of Islamic Art and Architecture ¶ Critic: Nasser Rabbat
Imperial Fictions: Historical Fabulation &
The Thousand and One Nights
The following is excerpted from a term paper exploring
William Harvey’s illustrations for Edward Lane’s heavily
annotated translation of The Thousand and One Nights.
The paper in its entirety explores the design methodology
suggested by these images and questions how drawing
might be explored as a space of intervention. What happens
when the erotic is naturalized, when the mundane is made
fantastic? And how do such visualizations concretize a
fantasy? Undo a reality?
[ … what does it mean when Harvey, in illustrating
Lane’s translation, created engravings that borrowed
heavily from archives and surveys of Egyptian and
Moorish architecture? Upon closer observation,
it becomes clear that Harvey’s headpiece for the
''Story of the Porter and the Ladies of Baghdad'' is
borrowed, or rather copied, from Girault de Prangey’s
surveys of the Alhambra. The stylized geometry and
calligraphic script framing the central illustration echo
the meticulous formatting of Prangey’s technical
drawings. If Prangey’s column details and floral
accents are meant to instructively supplement a
grand, central drawing, Harvey’s embellishments
around the main image come together in an oriental
mise-en-scène – a collage of disparate geometry,
costume, and script that, together, are meant to
evoke the exotic. But perhaps most out of place in
this medley is the central gateway. In referencing
Prangey’s surveys of Andalusia, Harvey produces a
drawing in which a ninth century porter in Baghdad
is made to traverse through what is undoubtedly the
mihrab of the Great Mosque of Cordoba. Although
meant to simulate an authenticity conducive with
the ethnographic realism projected by the text, this
illustration instead arguably upends the timestream
as we know it. It rearranges space and time to create
a vision of the East suspended both within, but also
very much outside of history.
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Questions of atemporality and timelessness
in Orientalist art are raised by Linda Nochlin in
her analyses of Jean-Léon Gérôme’s paintings
in ''The Imaginary Orient.'' Much like Lane and
Harvey, Gérôme was similarly famed for his
attention to detail and extensive preliminary
studies of architecture, furniture, costume, and
the like. The Snake Charmer, his 19th century
painting of Orientalism fame, both faithfully and
elaborately details representations of Turkish
tiling, Arabic calligraphy, costume, stonework,
and basket weaving. The juxtaposition of these
authentically rendered artifacts extend credibility
to the performance in question, to the exploitation
of cultural representation and the existence of an
audience, an entire people, contentedly captivated
by that very act. In fabulating a fiction through
carefully detailed artifacts imported into the scene
from the real, Gérôme manages to project a vision
of the East very much other to the political reality of
the time.
As is emphasized by the headpiece for ''Story of
the Porter and the Ladies of Baghdad,'' Harvey’s
illustrations similarly gather artifacts from the real
to craft elaborate imaginaries. The characters of
the Nights encounter tombs capped with Mamluk
domes centuries before the dynasty’s arrival to
the region and navigate palaces that draw on built
symbolism very unlike those that actually defined
the values and customs of the period. A collage
of both the mundane and the abstract, Harvey’s
illustrations thus locate the distinctly fictional and
fantastical within the tangible, the real. Comparisons
to paintings of the Gerome type emphasize that
illustrating the Nights and the actual Orient were
one and the same. And yet dismissing these
representations merely as iterations of Orientalism
denies the significance of these works as political
documents, as carriers of meaning, might, and
ambition.1]
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1
Linda Nochlin,
“The Imaginary
Orient,”
59. Below:
Deconstruction
of illustration
for the “Story
of the Porter
and the Ladies
of Baghdad,”
Drawing by
Author.

051
apachec
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
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Antonio Pacheco
PhD Candidate ¶ HTC ¶ 4.661 Theory and Method in the Study of Art and Architecture ¶ Critic: Caroline Jones

Genius Distributed: How Paul Philippe
Cret Concretized Beaux-Arts Pedagogy
Through American Public Buildings
During the New Deal Era
This is an abstract
of a essay by
the same name.
How important is architectural style in public
buildings? And relatedly, how do public buildings
reflect the aesthetic, tectonic, and political
objectives of architectural pedagogies within
specific cultural and historical contexts? In exploring
the relationship between the pedagogy of the École
des Beaux-Arts and a collection of New Deal-era
architectural works designed by French-American
architect Paul Philippe Cret, this paper seeks to
investigate the visual, formal, constructive, and
symbolic linkages between academic architecture
and built form within the context of the public
building programs of the New Deal.
Born in 1876 and educated at the École des
Beaux-Arts under the tutelage of esteemed
Beaux-Arts educator Jean-Louis Pascal, Cret
moved to the United States in 1903 where he
would go on to execute a variety of notable New
Deal-affiliated commissions. Throughout this
time, Cret worked to develop and propagate a new
architectural manner harnessing the composition
and competition-focused nature of École des
Beaux-Arts architectural training for a uniquely
American architectural context during a dramatic
era of modernization and nation-building. He did
so through design commissions; while providing
oversight and expertise over public building projects;
via his involvement with professional and artistic
organizations; as an author and critic; and as a
professor, highlighting a deep, broad, and calculated
effort to influence and guide public building design
during this era. With a keen eye for composition,
Cret was able to harness the generative potential
of the design competition to experiment with

052
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architectural style, developing a synthesis of
classical and modern architectural vocabularies
that helped lend a signature mode to a pragmatic
architecture. By bringing together architectural
and cultural markers of authority, timelessness,
and grandeur with burgeoning experiments in
modern construction, Cret’s building projects mark
a compelling episode in the birth of the Modern
movement of architecture.
Undergraduate
4.s52 Other
Opposite Left: Central Heating Plant: Interior view of
the Central Heating Plant in Washington, D.C., designed
by Paul Philippe Cret. Opposite Right: Central Heating
Plant: Aerial photo of the Central Heating Plant with
the Washington Monument in the background. Below
Left: Masonry detail of the Central Heating Plant with a
sculptural terracotta panel depicting the heating plant's
machinery. Below Right: Central Heating Plant: Photo of
the Central Heating Plant in Washington, D.C., designed
by Paul Philippe Cret.

In large part, Cret’s influence was exerted through

a series of winning competition entries and
through collaborative efforts between Cret and
teams of administrators, patrons, design juries,
and associated design teams. In this paper, I seek
to draw connections between the concours of the
École and those of the New Deal to highlight how
these simultaneously collaborative and distributed
forms of design execution helped shape the ''period
style'' of New Deal architecture through the analysis
of four Cret-influenced projects. Using an in-depth
formal and historical analysis of the New Deal
''period style'' Cret helped synthesize, I seek to
bring to light how this style concretized École des
Beaux-Arts teachings in America and how, in turn,
these teachings were absorbed and reinterpreted
by architectural and public audiences in the United
States.

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jheard
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism
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James Heard
SMArchS Candidate ¶ HTC ¶ 4.661 Theory and Method in the Study of Art and Architecture
¶ Critic: Caroline Jones
Locating a Marxist Aesthetic: American
Modernism, 1892 - 1954
This is an excerpt
of a essay by
the same name.
To understand why it is useful to construct a
history of Marxist aesthetics in American modern
architecture, it is helpful to know exactly what
Marxist aesthetics is. The name Marxist aesthetics
is clear in the sense that Marxist aesthetics is
fundamentally a Marxist interpretation of aesthetics;
however, what that entails is not intuitive. Part of
the difficulty in nailing down a precise definition
of Marxist aesthetics, or tracing its history in the
United States, is the long and proud tradition
of the internecine left. Schism after schism has
split left wing movements, each fork rejecting the
other on an ideological basis. Orthodox Marxists
reject the reformist Marxists who both reject the
anarchist communists. To navigate the multiplicity
of definitions for and realizations of Marxist
aesthetics that have resulted from the fractious
left, this paper has followed the methodology
outlined by Lee Baxandall in his 1968 Marxism and
Aesthetics: An Annotated Bibliography, summarized
as: ''Decisions as to whether some writings ‘really’
were Marxist had no place in the compilation of
this volume. When in doubt the compiler opted to
include rather than exclude.'' This has been applied
to the boundary between aesthetics and politics
as well, the important and complicated question
of whether art produced by a professed Marxist is
necessarily Marxist art, although touched upon,
will not be thoroughly explored by this paper. The
architecture included here is Marxist by association
and affiliation, and is representative of an influence
exerted by Marxism on the architecture aesthetically
or the architect ideologically.
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The increased availability in recent years of
narratives which were previously peripheral, such
as those from Central and Eastern Europe and the
Global South, have begun to show the fragility of
the modern canon as it stands.1 This presents an
opportunity to reconstruct the global legacy and
influence of socialism and communism, and return to
Marxism once again as a generative force for design.
This paper will focus specifically on the American
context — one which has been historically inimical
to the Marxist ideology. The history of Marxism
in the United States is the history of a marginal
movement populated with marginal figures. The
limited availability of Marxist aesthetic texts in
English narrows this marginal history further, and
means that Marxist influence in the United States
largely occurred indirectly. It is a study of footnotes
and anecdotes which invites, and in some instances
requires, speculation. I indicate whenever this is
the case throughout the essay with the intention of
offering, in the words of Saidiya Hartman, a ''critical
reading of the archive that mimes the figurative
dimensions of history.''2 Piecing together fragments,
a narrative of an ideology that punches above its
weight class takes shape and provides ground for
Marxists to begin the process of reclaiming their
integrity to the narrative of American architecture.
The term aesthetics as we know it was first
appropriated by Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten,
a German philosopher, from the Greek aisthesis,
in his 1735 thesis Philosophical Meditations on
some Matters pertaining to Poetry. In his thesis
he proposes that knowledge gained from the
senses — although still subservient to reason —
could constitute a science, the ultimate goal of
which is the perfection of the arts to represent
the beautiful.3 Marx’s own method, approaching
the idealism of the utopian socialists scientifically,
isn’t so far from Baumgarten’s, though it is not
immediately evident how their ideas intersect.
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism
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Although Marx himself never explicitly outlined an
aesthetic method, he was personally interested in
the arts and had prepared notes for an eventual
work on aesthetics.4 For this reason, there has
been no single canonical Marxist aesthetic. Art is
treated by Marxist theory as a product of intellectual
processes and therefore as ideological, despite being
ultimately determined by economic conditions.5
This means that within Marxist theory art has
been interpreted to momentarily transcend its
economic materialism through its communicative
capacity. Another frequently influential aspect is
the eventual egalitarianism achieved through class
struggle as predicted by Marx. Marxist adherents
have interpreted the latter to favor progressive art
movements (though socialist realism is a notable
exception) and the former to privilege the written
word, murals, architecture, illustration and other art
forms which can reach a wide audience.6
Although Marx’s utopian egalitarianism has
broadly inspired the work of many artists, the
uniquely Marxist aspects of Marxist theory
have also influenced aesthetics. These include
economic and historical materialism, historical
and social organicism, the dialectical process, and
class conflict.7 However, making the connection
between Marxist aesthetics and art is often difficult.
Just because there is evidence that an artist has
engaged with Marxist theory doesn’t mean that
theory is integral to their artistic practice. Even
when an artist is explicitly a Marxist, as in the case
of Diego Rivera, the degree to which their art can
be considered to represent a Marxist aesthetic
is questionable.8 Despite including Lenin among
his painterly subjects, Rivera was not particularly
well read in Marxist or socialist thought, was
described as a political amateur, and was stylistically
comparable to other muralists of his period who
were not necessarily as ideologically committed.9
This connection becomes even more complicated
when beginning from a work of art, as style itself
doesn’t possess ideology, nor does it have consistent
ideological meaning. Regarding the international
style in architecture, Meyer Schapiro writes, ''[t]he
technical, aesthetic form is not enough to ensure
the social value of this architecture. For like any
Undergraduate
4.s52 Other
technique this one may be used for good or evil.''10
The paradoxical situation that stems from this is that
not all Marxist art is produced by Marxists, and not all
Marxists produce Marxist art.
If identifying art as Marxist is so difficult and the
art that has been identified as Marxist, at one point
or another, includes diverse and contradictory
movements, then what purpose does Marxist
aesthetics serve? By reclaiming a narrative that
demonstrates the influential role of Marxism in the
development of modern architecture in the United
States, Marxist aesthetics is able to become a
generative theory for the critique and development
of contemporary aesthetics in architecture, giving
them both historic grounding and theoretical weight.
Even if Marxist aesthetics is broad and inconsistent,
this can be said of other aesthetic categories as
well — beauty and ugliness are notoriously unstable.
However, unlike beauty, Marxism provides clear
criteria by which art can be judged to determine
whether aspects of it hew to Marxist principles.
Marxist theory provides fertile ground for artists to
reconceive basic relationships fundamental to artistic
practice, such as the labor relationship between
subject and object, and place their work in the world.
It provides orientation rather than instruction.
1
Miljački, Ana. The Optimum Imperative: Czech Architecture for the Socialist
Lifestyle, 1938-1968. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017; Stanek, Lukasz.
Architecture in Global Socialism. Princeton University Press, 2020.
2
Hartman, Saidiya. “Venus in Two Acts.” Small Axe, vol. 12, no. 2, Duke
University Press, July 2008, pp. 11.
3
Baumgarten, Alexander Gottlieb. “Aesethetics and the Sublime.” Art in Theory
1648-1815: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, edited by Charles Harrison et al.,
Blackwell Publishers, 2000,pp. 487.
4
Egbert, Donald D., et al. Socialism and American Life. Edited by Donald D.
Egbert and Stow Persons, vol. 1, Princeton University Press, 1952, pp. 637.
5
Ibid., 637-638.
6
Ibid., 638-639.
7
Ibid., 637.
8
Ibid., 725.
9
Ibid.; Egbert, Donald D. Social Radicalism and the Arts, Western Europe: A
Cultural History from the French Revolution to 1968. Alfred A Knopf, 1970, pp.
731.
10
Schapiro, Meyer. “Looking Forward to Looking Backward: A Dossier
of Writings on Architecture from the 1930s.” Grey Room, edited by
Felicity D. Scott, vol. 6, Jan. 2002, pp. 66–109. DOI.org (Crossref),
doi:10.1162/152638102317406506, pp. 68.
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sdubois1
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism
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Samuel Dubois
PhD Candidate ¶ HTC ¶ 4.661 Theory and Method in the Study of Art and Architecture
¶ Critic: Caroline Jones
A Formal Analysis of Montréal’s
Biosphere
The Biosphere is a sphere-shaped building designed
by the American architect and engineer Richard
Buckminster Fuller. Originally designed as the
United States pavilion of the 1967 International
and Universal Exposition (Expo 67), the building is
one of the few structures from Expo 67 that are still
standing today. In the 1990s, the former exhibition
pavilion was converted into what is now known
as the Biosphere: a museum and environmental
observation center dedicated to water and
sustainable development.
As an institution, the Biosphere is composed of
two physically independent structures: 1) a six-
story orthogonal inner structure designed by
Cambridge Seven Associates and in which the entire
architectural program of the museum is contained;
and 2) a sphere-shaped outer shell designed by
Buckminster Fuller and whose original purpose was
to cover the partially open inner structure and its
occupants. Both structures feature a distinctive
architectural signature, yet they both form a
conceptually inseparable whole (Fig. 1).
The Spherical Form
From the visionary projects of Claude-Nicolas
Ledoux and Étienne-Louis Boullée, the spherical
form has fascinated many architects, not only
because of the sphere’s unique properties as
a geometrical shape, but also for its multiple
metaphorical meanings. The construction of a
sphere as a building, however, was an arduous task
until the development of geodesic domes in the
mid-twentieth century. A geodesic dome consists of
a series of triangular elements that are structurally
rigid and that equally withstand and distribute the
structural stress throughout its auto-generated
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Above: Collage illustrating the metaphorical relation between
the Biosphere and the Earth (Sept 2020) Image by Author.
spherical-shaped structure (Rothman, 1989).
Although Buckminster Fuller is not the original
inventor of the geodesic dome, he popularized the
idea and even received a U.S. Patent for it in 1954.
The geodesic dome that Buckminster Fuller
designed in Montréal is 62.8 meters in height, 76.2
meters in diameter and has a volume of 189,724
cubic meters. The dome was originally covered
with transparent acrylic panels that were linked
to a solar-powered system of motors that could
control the interior temperature. When the shades
were completely open, the transparency of the
acrylic panels created an almost invisible barrier
between the inside and the outside. Unfortunately,
the building's acrylic panels went up in smoke in
1976 because of a fire accident that was caused by
structural renovations involving welding. Despite the
fire, the hard steel truss structure remained intact.
The Biosphere’s geodesic dome somehow
substantiates the theories of the English
architectural critic and writer Reyner Banham.
In his 1969 book ''The Architecture of the Well-
Tempered Environment,'' Banham claims that
the best architectural form is an expression of its
technology and that buildings should employ the
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism
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latest technology (Banham, 1969). Observing the
technologically innovative and newly patented
geodesic dome of the 1967 Biosphere, one can
argue that the building’s technology-enabled form
is, following Banham’s view, an expression of the
best architectural practices of its era.
The Architectural Style
Long before the contemporary attention paid
to sustainability and eco-criticism in art and
architecture, Buckminster Fuller – already in the
early 1960s – was concerned with how architects
could use technology as a tool to ameliorate and
advance the human condition. He even wrote
that his research was ''to view the universe
as an organization of regenerative principles''
(Government of Canada, 2015), with references
to rebirth and reproduction. Transposed into an
architectural language, Buckminster Fuller’s ideas
unsurprisingly manifested themselves in forms
such as the sphere. Today, we would postulate that
sphere-shaped buildings have a futuristic ‘style.’
When the American government decided to
commission Buckminster Fuller to design the shell
of the U.S. pavilion of Expo 67, the spherical form
that followed was not a random causality. The
sphere was deliberate. In fact, Buckminster Fuller’s
spherical pavilion in Montréal housed hundreds of
artifacts and works of art testifying to American
genius, notably in relation to the Apollo Program
(1963-1972) and its lunar missions. The direct
relationship between the spherical shape of the U.S.
pavilion’s outer frame and the Apollo-related content
of the exhibition is reminiscent of art historian
Erwin Panofsky’s vision of form and content as two
inseparable notions. Panofsky affirms: ''In a work of
art, ‘form’ cannot be divorced from ‘content’: the
distribution of […] volumes and planes, however
delightful as a visual spectacle, must also be
understood as carrying a more-than-visual meaning''
(Panofsky, 1970: 205).
Using Panofsky’s iconographic theory as analytical
lens, one can retrieve the symbolic and allegorical
meanings embedded in Montréal’s Biosphere. At the
time of its inauguration, the sphere-shaped building
Undergraduate
4.s52 Other
is the architectural manifestation of its content,
which pertains to aerospace exploration. Here,
we thus have a planet-shaped pavilion containing
a planet-related exhibition. Figure 2 is a collage
that illustrates this metaphor by creating a visual
dialogue between the building’s form and content.
The collage features the superimposition of two
historical photographs: one of the Earth seen from
the moon during one of the Apollo missions, and the
other of the Expo 67 U.S. pavilion on the day of its
inauguration.
The Past & Future
Expo 67 occurred during a pivotal period in
Québec’s history known as the Quiet Revolution
(1960-1970). This period was characterized by a
grand project of modernization, notably through
major social, economic, and political reforms that
were intended to usher in a new welfare state. In
a way, Expo 67 is the architectural and cultural
embodiment of Québec’s leap into modernity.
Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome became the
landmark of Expo 67 and marked a consequential
moment in the history of contemporary architecture
not only in Québec, but worldwide. Despite being
25 years old, the Biosphere remains today one of
Montréal’s most iconic architectural landmarks.
Nevertheless, the Biosphere has been struggling
to attract visitors in recent years. Has Buckminster
Fuller’s geodesic dome become over time – in the
words of Panofsky – a visual spectacle? In order to
alleviate its contemporary tribulations, many argue
that the 1967 spherical structure needs architectural
reimagining to make it carry a ''more-than-visual
meaning,'' a reimagining to make it as culturally
evocative as it used to be.
Banham, Reyner. The Architecture of the Well-tempered Environment. London:
The Architectural Press, 1969.
Government of Canada. “Richard Buckminster Fuller: A Visionary Architect.”
Last modified
July 2, 2015. https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climatechange/
services/biosphere/about/buckminster-fuller.html.
Panofsky, Erwin. Meaning in the Visual Arts. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1970.
Rothman, Tony. Science à la Mode. Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1989.
057
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Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism
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Brandon Scott
PhD Candidate ¶ HTC ¶ STS.430 History of Plants and People ¶ Critic: Kate Brown
Taeda, taeda Pt.1
This is an excerpt
of a longer piece
by the same name.
I a kindness gone too far for those of us who think a
Strong wind. Chimes. Orange pink breath off the tops
of pines. A small moon burning through dusty blues.
The blue jay singing sharp through cicadas. Porch
lights put on, free cats to roam. Almost home’s last
evening.
On the road, a car crushed cone. Pieces of pieces of
pieces, as the jar on the hill but fallen, shattered. A
wish to put them all back together. Whose wish? It
is of human want to need things remain whole. But
of cone? Destroyed and yet enabled. Out of it now, a
myriad seeds, their chance to do. But do what?
II
I could give names to them all. Grand and thick, I
might call the largest Ramses II, erect over road and
home. Far enough away from that pharaonic domain,
are three others, princesses perhaps princes, probably
both, each patiently awaiting each day their crowning
by the sun. Come closer away from the edge that
they line, and onto the grounds where I and Michael
and Grant used to play, and there two more, which I
could only half appropriately call Scylla and Charybdis
for they gate a path, though the only danger there
was of surprise attack during one of our more warlike
games. In pursuit, being chased by them, where
to run? Around the house. But now where? To the
Four Graces, four being better than three anyway,
making it that much easier to imagine a sanctuary
walled by air and floored by dirt—''Base!,'' I say. And
the Grace? That is in their rough thread robes which
even in mild winds always mingle. Less known to me
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for years where the two always at my mother’s aid,
helping her raise my washed grass stained clothes
to lighten and to dry. Walk further back, so distant
from window sight and find there my strange uncle,
neither unkind nor unwelcoming, but so charitable
that he lets many things grow on him, which seems
body should be unadorned with other bodies. And
last a distant friend, really a relation by so much
familiarity. I trim and wash her old feet, placed half
in our and half in another land; she always gives
us music which she plays through her arms in
accompaniment to every breeze.
III
Well I did not name them all. Three others I forgot,
like cousins you meet in middle school and find again
later mid-life.
VII
Cicadas chant purple-brown, a looping shape that
first seems cornered but proves edgeless as it
volleys through the day. Courting wrens flit flecks of
precious metal near light as falling leaves through
August air. Ghosts shuffle on the forest floor to
turn an eye here then there at their encroaching
presence soon embodied and demystified as the
rustling ramble of rodents—squirrels. Heartbeat
bass of hummingbird, to the high-pitch clip of
circular saws churning. Screen doors slam to check
the hunting hound of horseflies. Courted wrens now
mated, new beaks bicker for the bodies of grubs.
Momma delivers and darts back off into the woods.
Trucks of pigs who squeal at the break (and smell
on the nose), broken tree limb thuds on ground.
Owls inquire—''Who? Whoo? Whooo?'' Neighbors
answer, ''Essie May, Eldrich’s aunt!'' The small
beaks now wail—momma’s not returned. But their
tune seems barely sustained in air, petering out on
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism
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the sides of pines, overwhelmed by high noon hawk
operas and even evening cricket serenades. They’d
need silence here for her to hear them but is silence I
wonder just a sanitizing sound we play to not have to
listen or to scream. Dusk past. Night fall. Floodlights
yawn like a lazy guitar below the crash-smack-clack of
insects drunk on incandescent luminance. The wrens
don’t wail. Did momma return or maybe Moon put
her finger on their tongue. ''Shhh, until morning.'' And
meanwhile, deep, deep in the forest, if a tree fell…—
oh, oh come now with that all too human non-sense…
there’d be that and a thousand other sounds and a
thousand other ''ears'' to hear them.
X lobed C’s so that they look like hearing organs, hence
Hurricane. Atmospheres of fury. The wolf could not
blow a brick house down, but these winds could.
Night scrapped from sky, as dark paint off metal, a
scowling gray is all this morning. I go out to move
just painted pots already toppled and woodwork
already soaked. This rain hurts. All around a pervasive
howling, like someone suddenly unable to see so now
shouting to remain visible. I look up and glance them
as they tremor, twist and flare, bodies not attempting
to withstand but rather to go with the gale, as if they
Undergraduate
4.s52 Other
might uplift—portable colossi who I trust won’t trip.
I go back to sleep. Later the familiar double silence,
part after storm quiet, part the hush of electric things
with no line power. The ditches now minor moats
of cool water, mossy mud, crayfish and larvae of
tomorrow’s mosquitoes. The driveway now a wet
sheet pasted with feline faces of tulip tree leaves,
toothy stars of sweetgums and the tattered currency
of oaks. The yard now a finished battlefield of forlorn
limbs left behind which I and momma gather. We’ll
carry them all, some slender and fresh, others near
dead before the struggle, already showing rot and
donning bright green-blue medals of lichens; others
still bear a curious fungus growing round and soft in
the name Tree’s Ear—Auricularia auricula. No longer
to hear the sound of the heights of air, they listen now
to our footsteps and then-on, after piled near the
back woods, to the slow hum of earth embracing and
breaking them into restful deafness.
This is one of three interrelated essays done for STS.430 on
loblolly pine trees (Pinus tadea). Below: Image by Author.
059
nisar
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Muhammad Hasan Nisar

SMArchS Candidate ¶ AKPIA ¶ Harvard HAA.266 Art Writing in Persianate Culture ¶ Critic: David Roxburgh

Portraiture Under the Mughal and more interestingly his observance of the mating
Emperor Jahangir patterns of cranes, all highlight Jahangir’s curiosity
towards nature. This paper would extend this
This is an excerpt curiosity from the realm of scientific inquiry to the
of a longer piece
arts of depiction.
by the same name.

Looking at the Dying Inayat Khan (fig. 1), a painting

In her article ''Jahangir as Francis Bacon’s Ideal attributed to Balchand held in the Bartlett Collection
of the King as an Observer and Investigator of of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, a portrait
Nature'', Ebba Koch characterizes Jahangir as, of Shah Abbas I (fig. 2) attributed to Bishndas in
''an acknowledged naturalist if ever one sat on the the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of the Harvard Art
throne''.1 For her Jahangir embodies Bacon’s ideal Museums, would allow us to compare Jahangir’s
for the king on account of his predilection towards proclamations and personal apprehensions on the
the observance and recording of nature whereby art of painting in the Jahangirnama with the work
he combines scientific curiosity and inquiry with being produced in his reign. The commissioning
political thinking. The continued learning in rulership of these portraits further exemplify Jahangir’s
is what would lead to an ideal of kingship. Koch self-fashioning as a naturalist in the Jahangirnama
also cites Count Hermann Keyserling, according and these paintings further highlight his peculiar
to whom the Mughal kings embodied grossartige attention towards nature, whether through the
Menscheitsunthese or a ''superior human synthesis'' literary recording of cranes’ mating patterns or
in their personalities2. the commissioning of paintings that capture the
likeliness of a starving person on the brink of death.
From the Jahangirnama, a history authored
in the autobiographic style by Jahangir, there
can be observed many examples that evidence
Koch’s hypothesis of Jahangir being a naturalist
or Keyserling’s hypothesis on Mughal rulers’
multifaceted personalities. It is a remarkable source,
not just because it provides us with a chronological
account of Jahangir’s reign complete with details
of political strife, diplomatic endeavors, militaristic
campaigns, and archival information on gifts,
weapons, animals etc., but more importantly
it provides peculiar insights into Jahaangir’s
idiosyncrasies as a Mughal emperor.

His observance of the flora and fauna of India, much

like his ancestor Babur in his own autobiographic
account Baburnama, which Jahangir would have
had access to because Akbar had it translated into
Persian and turned it into an illustrated manuscript,
Above: ''Dying Inayat Khan'', Attributed to Balchand, c.
1618-19, Northern India, Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Opposite: ''Portrait of Shah Abbas I'', attributed to
Bishndas, c. 1617, India Arthur M. Sackler Museum at the
Harvard Art Museums.

060
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism
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Jahangir records the dreadful condition of Inayat
Khan prior to his death, ''skin stretched over bone''3
and also gives an account of the progression of his
disease. He writes, ''it was so strange I ordered the
artists to draw his likeness''.4 This anecdote and the
painting left behind, probably by Balchand, shows
that Jahangir had found something of use to him out
of the plight of this man. Jahangir’s remorse for the
tragic condition of Inayat Khan is unmistakable as he
quotes this melancholic verse,''if my shadow doesnt
hold my leg, I wont be able to stand until Doomsday/
My sigh sees my heart so weak that it rests a while
on my lip''.5 He even gives him a 1000 rupees for
his journey ahead. It is important to note this here
to avoid any implications of Jahangir being a cruel
researcher who only saw dying men as subjects of
inquiry, both scientific and artistic.
Undergraduate
4.s52 Other
cushions and awaiting death, but also signifies the
virtuosity of artists at Jahangir’s court. Jahangir tells
us and the artist shows us that the painters and
artists at Jahangir’s court were engaged in painting
directly from nature or attempting to preserve an
essence of it.
While thinking of images of starvation from history,
one is certainly reminded of the many images of
the starving Buddha where the artists exaggerate
the ribcages or the hollowness around the eyes
to signify the starved state. However, in contrast
both Jahangir and the artist here demonstrate an
inclination towards realism which further helps our
understanding of the arts and artistic practices
during the reign of Jahangir.

Therefore, even though he orders the artists

to capture the likeness of the unique physical
state of this man and avoid any exaggerations, as
often artists do while drawing skinny people as
he observes, his intentions are not malicious and
any readings of cruelty should be avoided. The
inclusion of this anecdote in the Jahangirnama and
the commissioning of the painting, is anomalous
since it is of no wider consequence to the history of
the Mughal empire or Jahangir’s reign specifically.
However, not only does it give us a window into
the historiographic practices of Jahangir and he
thought warranted discussion in a history of his
reign, but more relevant to our purposes his personal
attentiveness to nature and its recording through
painting. In other instances in the Jahangirnama,
the phrase, ‘I ordered the artists to draw likeness’
appears frequently as Jahangir orders his artists to
draw likeness of an impressive lion he had hunted at
one point, or ugly monkeys the likes of which he had
not seen before.

The artist seems to have followed the instructions

of Jahangir and rendered quite a naturalistic painting
Koch, Ebba. “Jahangir as Francis Bacon's Ideal of the King as an Observer and
of a starving man. The hollowness around his
1

Investigator of Nature.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 19, no. 3, 2009,
shoulder bone, the clearly defined ribcage, the skinny pp. 293–338.
Ibid., 294.
arms and hands, and the drapery over his legs, all
2

3
Jahāngīr. Jahāngīrnāma. Wheeler M. Thackston, trans. and ed. The
showcase the attempt and arguable success to stay Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India. Washington, D.C.: Freer
Gallery of Art, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 1999.
close to naturalism. Here is a picture that not only 4
Ibid., 280.
captures the misery of this man, reclined against 5
Ibid., 280.

061
BT
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619
Our work ranges from fundamental discovery to full scale application.
Strategies employed toward these ends include integrated architectural
design strategies, resource accounting through material flow analysis
and life cycle assessment, structural design and optimization, building
and urban energy modeling and simulation, human comfort analysis,
control design and engineering, and other technologically-informed design
methods.

4.412
D-Lab Schools: Building
Technology Laboratory
¶ Critic: Les Norford ¶
TA: Yesufu O'ladipo
Building Technology
Focuses on the design, analysis,
and application of technologies
that support the construction
of less expensive and better
performing schools in developing
countries. Prepares students
to design or retrofit school
buildings in partnership with

local communities and NGOs.

Strategies covered include
Selected Course Descriptions

daylighting, passive heating and

cooling, improved indoor air quality
via natural ventilation, appropriate
material selection, and structural
design. Investigations are based
on application of engineering
fundamentals, experiments
and simulations. Case studies
illustrate the role of technologies
in reducing barriers to improved
education.
→P. 066

062
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other

063
dfang
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Demi Fang
PhD Candidate ¶ Harvard GSD 6338: Introduction to Computational Design ¶ Critic: Jose Luis Garcia del
Castillo Lopez

“calculates
TopEval is a Grasshopper component that
a topology’s conformity to a vector field,
enabling live feedback during design. With TopEval
and an effective visualization workflow, designers
can both compare and improve structural topologies
during early-stage design without the need for

”
iterative structural analysis.

Above: Given a vector field across a continuum domain.

Evaluate a topology's conformity with the vector field.
Learn more:
https://demifang.github.io/2020/12/11/Flow-topology/

064
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other

065
egascon
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism
4.323 4.362 4.390
Eduardo Gascón Alvarez
SMArchS Candidate ¶ Building Technology ¶ D-Lab Schools: Building Technology Laboratory
¶ Critic: Les Norford
Left: Classroom Retrofit Section. 1) Add insulation layer
to facade’s interior. 2) Integrated heat recovery ventilation
unit. 3) Deployable roof insulation (seasonally exposed
thermal mass. Below: Students gathering in front of the
prefabricated concrete façade designed by Marcel Breuer.
Source: “Heroic: Concrete Architecture and the New
Boston.” Mark Pasnick, Michael Kubo and Chris Grimley.
066
Building Technology
4.412 4.619
“K-12
Pandemic-resilient, thermally comfortable
schools: Madison Park High School ¶ This
work tackles the challenge of reopening K-12
schools during the current COVID-19 pandemic
and analyzes Madison Park High School, located in
Boston’s neighborhood of Roxbury, as a study case.
The school, originally designed by the Hungarian
architect Marcel Breuer, presents a large central
courtyard that connects several of its main buildings.
The outdoor thermal comfort of this space is
assessed both with in-person data measurements
and computational tools. Finally, an energy use
analysis is conducted on the interior spaces. A
pandemic-resilient classroom requires to increase
the ventilation rate from 2 to 5 air changes per hour,
which translates into a 240% increase on the energy
use intensity per squared meter. This work proposes
a set of interventions to bring this consumption
below pre-pandemic levels: interior insulation,
exposed thermal mass during summer time and
heat recovery ventilation units integrated inside the
prefabricated façade panels.
”
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other

Top Left: Sensors

indicated in floor
plan. Top Right:
Sensor 1a. Middle
Left: Sensor 2.
Middle Right:
Sensor 3. Bottom
Left: Sensor 4.
Bottom Middle:
Sensor 5. Bottom,
Right: Sensor 6.

067
jingyil
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Jingyi Liu
SMArchS Candidate ¶ Building Technology ¶ Independent Research Project at MIT Materials Systems
Laboratory with the Department of Building Technology ¶ Advisor: Les Norford

Above:: Develop a new workflow in Grasshopper to
recommend optimal design solutions during the early-
design-stage, considering both the embodied and
operational stages. Design uncertainty and diversity are
emphasized using cutting-edge technologies such as
surrogate modeling, genetic optimization, and big data
visualization. Solutions are optimized with three objectives:
minimized cost ($), minimized impact (kgCO2eq) &
maximized diversity.
“stage,
Buildings have a long lifetime, from the embodied
including manufacturing and construction, all
the way to the operational stage when we are using
the buildings. To explore optimal design solutions
with minimized cost and carbon impact, we need
to analyze buildings through life-cycle thinking. ¶
There is some existing life cycle analysis (LCA) tools
on the market, but improvements are still needed.
The research will start from the product comparison
between existing LCA tools and propose innovative
improvements needed in a new LCA workflow,
followed by introductions of technical details. ¶ The
workflow can analyze conceptual geometries in
Grasshopper, making LCA a seamless addition to
the Rhino design process. It also considers early-
stage design uncertainties and users’ flexibility to
choose from diverse design solutions. The workflow
recommends not only sustainable features of
building attributes but also optimal detailed design
solutions. Key results include recommended ranges
of numerical attributes such as Wall R-value and
Glazing U-value; rankings of categorical choices
such as Insulation Material and Equipment
Type; sensitivity analysis of building attributes;
distributions of life-cycle cost and carbon impact;
and a 3D Pareto front diagram that shows optimal
design solutions with three axes: cost, carbon

068
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
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impact, and diversity (how spread-out are the Above and Opposite Bottom: Early-design-stage Building
recommended results). ¶ On average, the workflow Lifcycle Optimization of Cost and Environmental Impact.
helps save costs by around 10% and the carbon
impact by around 20%. Take an office building as an
example (10 stories, 900 m2 floor areas), 10% cost
saving corresponds to around 6 million dollars. With
different weights assigned on three objectives, users
can emphasize cost or impact and control diversity.
Designers from two local firms, Payette and Goody
Clancy, also tested the beta version of this workflow.
Positive and inspiring feedback was received, such
as suggestions regarding user experience.
”

069
reweber
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Ramon Weber
PhD Candidate ¶ Building Technology ¶ Sustainable Design Lab / Digital Structures Group
¶ Advisor: Caitlin Mueller ¶ MAS.S68 Recreating the Past ¶ Critic: Zach Lieberman

“computational
Structural Shading investigates how
optimization strategies and design
space exploration methods can be combined with
both structural and energy simulations to create
high-performing shading elements. The inherent
link of form, material, and environment unlocks new
performative potentials and a new architectural
vocabulary.
”

Left: This image is an excerpt from coursework for MAS.

S68 Recreating the Past, taught by Zach Lieberman. It is
a snapshot of particle-based simulations created with the
Open Frameworks programming environment. Inspired by
Craig Reynolds artificial life simulations, thousands of color
shifting digital boids are being traced on the screen.

070
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
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071
ygo
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Yesufu O'ladipo
SMArchS Candidate ¶ Building Technology ¶ Independent Research ¶ Advisor: Les Norford

Mixed Mode Systems in Residential Buildings

Right: This photograph is courtesy of Walter Kale of the

Chicago Tribune. The image depicts a life threatening
building overheating event during the 1995 Chicago
heatwave. The image is representative of a worst case
scenario event where a power outage allowed buildings
to overheat and occupants to become vulnerable to
heat related illnesses. Mixed mode cooling strategies
evaluated in this research are a measure to increase passive
survivability. Below: The motivation for this research is to
prioritize passive measures within mixed-mode systems
in Passive House U.S. Certification Standards. This image
depicts a single family home that is compliant with the
2015 certification standard. It shows the various layers
of the exterior envelope that are critical to meeting the
requirements for certification and achieving airtightness
and high thermal insulation values.

072
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
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Below: One of the locations selected for

this research is Boston, MA. This image
displays the indoor air temperatures
in a single room of a PHIUS certified
building. It displays five options for
reducing indoor air temperatures and
represents the utilization of open
windows for a period of time from 9pm
to 7am during the month of July.

073
COMP
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619
This program inquires into the varied nature and practice of computation
in architectural design, and the ways in which design meaning, intentions,
and knowledge are constructed through computational thinking & making.

4.s52
Introduction to Three-
Virtuality & Presence ¶
Critics: D. Fox Harrell and
Cagri Hakan Zaman ¶
TA: Delanie Linden
Selected Course Descriptions
This course will explore established
and emerging modes of producing
''presence'' in various cultural
encounters, with an emphasis
on the valuation of presence
in creative practices that are
both challenged and expanded
by various XR encounters.
From perceptual and temporal
experiences in physical space to
online representations, digital
avatars, podcasts, and virtual and
augmented reality, each mode
of presence has a different set

of constraints and potentials for

representation, intention, and
action. This course will explore
these elements through a series of
design exercises. The course will
explore an interdisciplinary field of
cognitive science, media studies,
and design, and aim to discover
new forms of remote-design
Computation

practices that will be important for

post-pandemic education.

→P. 82

074
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other

075
bwl
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Bowen Lu
SMArchS ¶ Design and Computation ¶ Thesis Research ¶ Advisor: George Stiny ¶ Reader: Paul Keel

“forKnowledge is a particularly valuable resource

Below: Software interface providing accessibility to prior
knowledge and abilities to create sophisticated structures
using connections. Below: A network of knowledge
representing acquired cross-disciplinary knowledge
including furniture design, architecture, machine learning,
and more using the developed system.
designers who learn broadly across disciplines,
requiring considerable time and effort to acquire.
The amount of knowledge can easily go beyond
our mnemonic capacity, then how can a designer
retain and manage to use more knowledge to deliver
better design? Historically, we have developed the
writing system to externalize learned knowledge
for future reference. This externalization, as known
as hypomnema or note-taking, enables us to
utilize more knowledge with extended memory
and leads to deep thinking and innovation through
constant communication with thoughts. Most of
our tools, physical or electronic, are based on the
logic of note-taking, which contain heterogeneous
information scatters all over the place. Their
hierarchical structure and tagging system become
inadequate for management given the increasing
amount of knowledge to acquire. They also pivot
heavily on our own memory as the primary way

076
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism
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to retrieve knowledge, which can be particularly
unreliable. ¶ Originated from written language,
semantic network or ontology is a powerful method
to represent common sense knowledge as well as
our semantic memory. As a network of concepts,
it is adopted by many public projects and design
systems for knowledge sharing and reuse. However,
an ontology can be difficult to construct at personal
level. It is also too rigorous and explicit to define
for general knowledge acquisition. Most of its
applications focus on reasoning tasks over public
knowledge, and few contribute to personal growth
of knowledge. ¶ Taking advantages of both methods,
I propose a novel representation of hybrid ontology
that includes both conceptual knowledge and
episodic information as nodes, and a set of intuitive
relationships as connections between nodes. Based
on this representation, I develop a software tool with
engaging interface that makes the construction of
ontological network as easy as daily note-taking.
Undergraduate
4.s52 Other
I complete a productive workflow of input, storage
and retrieval as the foundation of knowledge
accumulation, as well as different interactive
functions, such as displaying multiple nodes on
screen as an extension of working memory, made
possible by the responsive and ambient interface.
I also propose mechanisms that keep learned
knowledge active by constantly pulling relevant
knowledge to us. Other approaches to trigger
memory and inspire us to understand knowledge
differently and creatively will also be investigated.
This knowledge interacting system contributes to
an attempt towards augmented intelligence that
values a complementary integration of human and
machine.
”
077
charidis
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism
4.323 4.362 4.390
Alexandros Haridis
PhD Candidate ¶ Design and Computation ¶ Dissertation Research ¶ Advisor: George Stiny
Ҧ AThelineGeometries Determined by Line Drawings
drawing can be represented as a finite set
of maximal line segments in the plane. The plane is
usually understood as an ''ambient space''—that
is to say, all-encompassing and continuous—
surrounding all the objects that are drawn in it.
In this sense, line drawings given as sets of line
segments can be said to be surrounded by the
same ambient geometric space. In this project, it
is shown that every line drawing in the plane also
gives rise to its own ''local space,'' which can be
formalized and studied independently of the ambient
space it may be contained in. The results obtained
from this study provide important insights on the
relationship between drawing and geometry, and
by extension, design and mathematics. ¶ What is
the ''local space'' of a line drawing? Sets of maximal
line segments in the plane are called shapes (Stiny,
1975). Shapes are thus analogous to line drawings.
Any shape is contained in a special arrangement
of points and lines called, respectively, registration
marks and construction lines. The construction lines
are infinitely extending lines that partition the plane,
while the registration marks punctuate the points
in the plane where these lines meet. Examples of
shapes and their underlying point-line arrangements
are shown in Figure 1. ¶ The incidences formed
between registration marks and construction lines
(i.e. which line passes through which point), provide
the necessary data for formalizing arrangements
that contain shapes as geometric spaces. In
particular, arrangements of registration marks and
construction lines can be represented as incidence
structures whose geometry can be characterized
using mathematical ideas and tools from finite
incidence geometry (Batten, 1997; see also Haridis,
2020a). Incidence structures are at the core of
the study of finite geometry, with applications
extending to computer science, experiment design,
statistics, chemistry, and many other areas. ¶
An arrangement that contains shapes forms ''a
078
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geometry'' if it satisfies certain conditions (these are
given in Haridis, 2020a). The most important one
is that every construction line in the arrangement
must be incident with at least two registration
marks. This condition attributes to lines the typical
characteristic that is usually associated with them:
a line is formed by connecting at least two points.
The classical notion of geometry as measurement
is at the basis of this—to measure you need at least
two points. Some arrangements satisfy conditions
that give rise to special types of geometries called
near-linear and linear spaces (for example, the
familiar Affine and Projective spaces are examples
of the latter). However, there are arrangements that
contain shapes that do not give rise to any proper
form of geometrical structure. More generally, the
relationship of arrangements that contain shapes
and finite geometries is summarized in the diagram
in Figure 2. In Haridis (2020b), an enumeration of
finite geometries determined by arrangements for
shapes is given for small numbers of points and lines;
Figure 3 shows a portion of this enumeration. ¶ The
arrangements that constitute geometries, imply a
local (geometric) space in which one can travel, that
is to say, measure or compute distance, only along
the available construction lines, by following the
points incident with these lines. Such local spaces
do not resemble the familiar plane, nor they behave
as one. On the other hand, in arrangements that
do not constitute geometries there must be some
construction lines on which one simply cannot
travel (measure or compute distance). However,
such arrangements can still contain shapes (i.e. line
drawings). ¶ This distinction between arrangements
that constitute geometries and arrangements
that do not, highlights that visual material like line
drawings are not fully captured or described in the
language of geometry. Geometry as measurement
does not contain drawing. More generally, the results
suggest that line drawings and other visual material
used in design, are better served when they are
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other
studied as objects in their own right, by emphasizing
their spatial-visual properties and behavior instead
of reducing them in a language of abstract point-
line incidences. ¶ This project provides the first
study of arrangements that contain shapes from
the standpoint of finite incidence geometry. A
detailed presentation of this project and its results
is published in Haridis (2020a; 2020b). There are
a number of open research areas in computation
that may take advantage of the mathematical
framework of arrangements that contain shapes.
To name a few of particular interest: comparison
of shapes (similarity/dissimilarity); evaluation of
the informational content (complexity) of shapes;
and algorithms for non-parametric design space
linear spaces
exploration.
”
near-linear
spaces

arrangements
for shapes

(3 3 3)

(4 4 4) (5 4 3) (4 4 2)

Top: (first row) Examples of shapes. (second row) Point-

line arrangements underlying the shapes. Above Right:
Classification of point-line arrangements that contain
shapes. Right: Enumeration of finite geometries on k ≤ 7
points which contain shapes (line drawings). (5 5 5) (6 5 4) (5 5 4) (5 5

L. M. Batten, Combinatorics of finite geometries, 2nd Edition (1997).

Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: UK.
A. Haridis, Geometry of arrangements that determine shapes (2020a). arXiv:
2010.14250.
A. Haridis, Some open problems regarding the number of lines and slopes in
arrangements that determine shapes (2020b). arXiv: 2011.10700.
G. Stiny, Pictorial and formal aspects of shape and shape grammars (1975).
(6 6 6) (6 6 5) (4 6 4) (6 6
Birkhauser, Basel: CH.

079
dchatzin
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Dimitrios Chatzinikolis
SMArchS ¶ Design and Computation ¶ 6.849 Geometric Folding Algorithms: Linkages, Origami, Polyhedra ¶
Critics: Erik Demaine, Martin Demaine

“problems
Cabinet of Curiosities is a selection of design
that explore the emergence of curvature
from flat surfaces.
”

080
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other

081
kwkng+meganp+que+wyhli
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism
4.323 4.362 4.390
Wonki Kang
Megan Prakash
Kwan Q Li
Wuyahuang Li
SMArchS Computation Candidate + CSAIL Candidate+ SMACT Candidate + SMArchS Urbanism Candidate
¶ 4.S52/CMS.627 Virtuality & Presence ¶ Critics: D. Fox Harrell, Cagri Hakan Zaman
“Media
Embodying a Narrative: Spatializing Multimodal
for Immersive Journalism ¶ Conventional
journalism from mainstream media spanning
across television, prints and recently social
media, nevertheless, focuses on visual-bearing,
comprehensive information presentation. These
might, however, fail to convey one of the core
aspects of civil activism: a sense of ‘collective
challenges [to elites, authorities, other groups or
cultural codes] by people with common purposes
and solidarity in sustained interactions with elites,
opponents and authorities’. ¶ In this project, we
investigate immersive journalism in augmented
reality, adopting the Occupy City Hall protest for
Black Lives Matter at New York city in the Summer
of 2020 as the case study. A preliminary systematic
review revealed that existing works of immersive
journalism often spotlight one particular incident
as the study subject, with common approaches
focusing on first-person narratives and maximizing
fidelity by restaging events. This project puts
forward a speculative prototype that spatializes
multi-sensory elements from a real event as
an alternative means for immersive journalism,
especially looking into augmented reality technology
to be implemented within a domestic space to
overcome environmental constraints that might
be driven from public health concerns or personal
082
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perceptual biases. ¶ As coined by Mexican-American
journalist Nonny de la Peña, immersive journalism
is ‘the production of news in a form from which
people can gain first-person experiences of the
events or situations described in news stories.’ A
key role of immersive journalism is to reinstitute
the audience’s emotional involvement in current
events considering the indifferent effect induced by
the influx of audio-visual information available in an
explosive number of media outlets. This is achieved
by heightening audience involvement through three
factors: place illusion (strong sensation of being in
the space depicted by the virtual-reality system),
plausibility (dynamics of events and the situation
portrayed and the fidelity to realistic happening)
and virtual body ownership. ¶ Based on these
frameworks, we orient our design goals towards:
(1) To create an ambiguous interface where users
experience an augmented space without guidance
or narrative, inviting users to actively engage; (2) To
demonstrate a spatial experience in AR within which
users can forensically discover virtual environments,
interact with elements and trigger effects; (3) To
innovate a journalistic approach to events that may
seem foreign or ''exotic'' to the user, by imposing
the event on the user’s own environment, creating a
provocation for engagement.
”
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
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083
nv2247
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Nikolaos Vlavianos
PhD Candidate ¶ Design and Computation ¶ Dissertation Research ¶ Advisors: Takehiko Nagakura,
Caroline Jones

Ҧ Utilizing
Spirituality through XR in Time & Space
state-of-the-art technology and
computation, the aim of this ongoing research
is to record and simulate in XR real architectural
spaces and humans’ motion, while collecting data
and understanding the psychological and neural
responses of humans in spiritual spaces. The
presented photogrammetry models show the 3D
reconstruction of the monastery of Simonos Petra in
Athos Greece.
”
Bottom: Instagram screenshot of @mitarchitecture,
''after a quick flight to make a photogrammetry model of
the dome...'' Opposite Top: South view of Simonos Petra
monastery, point-cloud. Opposite Bottom: Birds-eye view of
Simonos Petra monastery, point-cloud.

084
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other

085
palomagr
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.323 4.362 4.390 4.412 4.619

Paloma Gonzalez Rojas

PhD Candidate ¶ Design and Computation ¶ Independent Research ¶ Advisor: Elsa Olivetti

“Woodpack.
We created a new revolutionary material formula:
Construction is one of the most wasteful
industries, responsible for half of the global plastic
wrap waste and its derivatives (200M Tons).
Seventy five percent of that plastic waste ends
up in landfills, damaging the environment and
never degrading. The problem is: the Construction
Industry needs single use plastic wrap for shipping
lumber; protecting scaffolding, pallets, and
materials; transportation, among others. This is
a heavy duty, essential, and job creating industry
that urgently needs to switch from petrol-based
plastics to biodegradable ones. The solution is
WoodPack, a 100% biodegradable protective
wrap, capable of serving huge industries, without
incurring new operational costs. WoodPack is similar
to plastic woven poly tarp, but it is NOT plastic, it
is completely natural. It is water resistant, strong,
cheap and durable. It complies with plastic footprint
regulations, it is an industry in transition. WoodPack
can be disposed of in landfills for free, or used
as soil filling saving our clients’ money, but most
importantly, preserving our environment.
”

Our team is Paloma Gonzalez, a MIT PhD Candidate

in Design and Computation from the Architecture
Department, with materials science and construction
expertise; Jose Tomas Dominguez, Universidad Federico
Santa Maria Mechanical Engineer with Advanced
Manufacturing expertise, Jose Antonio Gonzalez,
Universidad Federico Santa Maria Industrial Engineer and
MBA, with Company Building Expertise, and Alejandro Rey,
MBA Student at La Frontera University.

086
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.661 4.s33 4.s52 Other

087
MArch, Core I
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J
The first semester of the MArch program follows a project-based learning
approach. A central project is addressed by each student, guided by a
range of disciplinary approaches. This CoLab (Collaborative Laboratory)
will bring together the disciplines of HTC, BT, Design, and Computation to
provide circuits for exercising and exploring the central project.
Architecture and Urbanism:

4.151
Architecture Design Core
Studio I ¶ Critics: Brandon
Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh,
Hans Tursack, Deborah
Garcia, Jeremy Jih ¶
TAs: Clarence Lee, Rania
Kaadan, Kimball Kaiser,
Danny Griffin, Lavender
Tessmer
Selected Course Descriptions
This studio is interested in
designing through methods of
representation. It displaces the
emphasis on product, by focusing
on process. A central prompt asks
how one might gather people on
the Emerald Necklace in Boston.
Through a series of circuits,
students test design approaches
against context, notions of
picturesque, phenomena, story,
composition, figure, and order.

By repeating the central prompt

through a range of these circuits,
students build a robust position as
to why and how design methods
can shape the way architects
project possible futures.
MArch, Core I

→ P. 090

4.210
Precedents in Critical
Practice ¶ Critic: Antonio
Furgiuele ¶ TAs: Taylor
Boes, James Heard
Through formal analysis and
discussion of historical and
theoretical texts, seminar
produces a map of contemporary
architectural practice. Examines
six pairs of themes in terms of
their recent history: city and
global economy, urban plan and
map of operations, program
and performance, drawing and
scripting, image and surface, and
utopia and projection.

→ P. 136

088
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.210 4.228 4s.13 4.THG

4.464J
Environmental
Introduction to the study of
the thermal and luminous
behavior of buildings. Examines
analysis techniques for designing
comfortable indoor environments.
Challenges students to apply
Technologies in Buildings the basic scientific principles these techniques and explore the
¶ Critic: Christoph underlying these phenomena role energy and light can play in
Reinhart ¶ TAs: Alpha and introduces students to shaping architecture.
Yacob Arsano, Yu Qian a range of technologies and
Ang

089
allench
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Christopher Allen
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“ofInstruments of Assembly ¶ A combination

sonic tactics of protest and a participatory
Below: When rotated, sound-reflecting structures also
replay annually-recorded anecdotes of urban and political
experiences. Top Right: City Hall, Anti-Monument. Bottom
program of storytelling and conversation creates a
Right: Emerald Necklace, Space for Gathering.
nodal network of interactive auditory interventions
that comprise an urban discursive infrastructure.
A variety of parabolic sound-reflecting shapes are
combined and iterated to create an arrangement
of unique rotating structures whose differences
invite exploration and interaction and whose
geometries and mobility enable a range of
gatherings from one-on-one conversations to
concerts and rallies.
”

090
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.210 4.228 4s.13 4.THG

091
bellac
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Bella Carmelita Carriker

MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“glacial
Jamaica Pond Glacier Springs ¶ Reviving the
history of Jamaica Pond, as well as the
site’s tradition of combining water recreation
and infrastructure, a new soft infrastructure is
introduced to mitigate existing water concerns.
A series of personalized bathing pools, 'iceberg'
filtration structures and flood prevention systems
Above: Due to the inherent malleability and variability of
water, pools of different sizes and shapes can function in
a variety of ways to determine program. These can include
thermal baths, ice skating, rollerblading or skateboarding,
gardening, cooking, marketplaces and community gathering
or seating. Top Right: A reflective pavilion in Jamaica Pond
mirrors and distorts natural surroundings, inserting and
immersing the viewer into the landscape. Bottom Right:

”
insert architecture into geological time and space. Research into the geological, infrastructural, and social
histories of Jamaica Pond reveal a renewed need to address
multi-scalar issues within this aquatic ecosystem.

092
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.210 4.228 4s.13 4.THG

093
camstuz
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Caroline Amstutz
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“andPartner handbooks detail the events, activities,

architecture of the Wonder Walks—three
Above: Wonder Walk and Nature Center Handbook
Covers. Opposite Left: Nature Center Plan. Opposite
Right: Wonder Walk Trail Map. Opposite Below:
curated trails beginning and returning to a Nature
Nature Center Renderings; Gabion Benches, Green
Center. ¶ The Wonder Walk Handbook addresses Roof, Soil Viewing Tunnel.
children participating in the nature discovery
experience, while the Nature Center Handbook
documents the building constructed of rammed
earth, timber, and gabion walls.
”

094
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.210 4.228 4s.13 4.THG

095
czhong
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Calvin Zhong
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“is Still Fermenting ¶ The picturesque

challenged literally through cinematic
representation, and conceptually through an act
of fermentation and placemaking. Its culmination
is an annual event where the fruits of a collective
labor are meant to be consumed in a bodily

”
celebration for an activation of a public park.

096
dpankhur
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

David Pankhurst
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“a subterranean
This project introduces three natural pools and
cistern which house dual-use,
seasonally-dependent programs. These pools
are terraced between two ponds sited within the
Emerald Necklace and employ linked architectural
typologies of water containment in order to create
a self-sustaining system which collects, purifies
and replenishes its source.
”

098
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.210 4.228 4s.13 4.THG

099
gideonse
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Lauren Gideonse
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“cycle
A series of responses considering the form and
of an annual moment of bounty, or muchness,
on the Emerald necklace. The sequence of projects
looks at rotting, and returning, recovery and
digestion, consumption and construction. The
materials exist in a cyclical lineage that incorporates
a moment of dispersion, from one into many and
back to one.
”

100
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.210 4.228 4s.13 4.THG

101
giorgis
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Adriana Giorgis
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“thisA Shared Moment of Notice ¶ The work from

semester investigated the formalization of the
intangible through different short projects. In this
project, the intangible is created through sound
and the shared experience of taking notice of an
intrusive sound to the common noise found in a park.
Through a system of six geometrically connected but
physically scattered follies, this project is designed
to host a small ensemble of instruments meant to
meet at the park once a year.
”

102
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.210 4.228 4s.13 4.THG

Opposite: Clarinets Character

Exploration. Above: Drum Set
Character Exploration. Right: Site plan
video screenshot with instrument
legend. Right Below: Harps Character
Exploration.

103
idonovan
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Inge Donovan
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“starting
My project uses the ice house as a conceptual
point to propose an architectural
Above: Section details showing five different temporal
regimes: digital, photochemical, diurnal, annual and
geological. Opposite: Axonometric view situating the
sequence that induces lag and sensory deprivation,
project at Jamaica Pond. Opposite Below: Section Timeline.
constructing a viewing device to expose the
temporal regimes of the site. It is an invitation for a
temporal resynchronization and a recalibration of
the collective public memory.
”

104
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.210 4.228 4s.13 4.THG

105
jbrazier
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Justin Brazier
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“groups
To buttress the efforts of local community
in anchoring what is now considered
Boston’s Latin Quarter, the scaffold and fabric
architecture that is centered around the Viva
El Latin Quarter Summer Finale is intended to
support the celebration of the Afro Latin Heritage,
history, and local economy.
”

106
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.210 4.228 4s.13 4.THG

Opposite: North/South Section of

the larger pavilion viewing kiosks
during the open market hours. Above:
View of stage 1 during a night time
performance. Right: View from the
catering kiosks/dining area looking
toward the large pavilion.

107
jingyunm
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Jingyun Ma
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“withThistheproject explores a playful way to interact

untouchable surfaces created by
urbanism. It combines programs of graffiti and
parkour within a connected series of follies in
the Emerald Necklace. The miniaturized urban
form provides abstracted forms of the city and
encourages multiple ways of transgression.
”

Top: Surface study. Transgression

on miniature urbanism. Above: Site
plan. The railings open an entrance to
the main road, welcoming the crowd
of people and waiting for something
irregular to happen. Opposite Top:
Miniature high rise. Opposite Bottom:
People can jump through holes on the
wall and climb up to the top.

108
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109
jschnitz
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Jenna Schnitzler
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“project
Eye Catchers ¶ Traditionally, follies frame nature peacefully—in a solitary imaging experience. ¶ This
explores how to repurpose natural images and create awareness of others and some alternative
intimacies between park goers. These four eye catchers reach a different part of the spectrum—what does it
mean to have a surprising visual interaction?
”
110
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Opposite Above: Plan analysis of

one eye catcher. Opposite Below:
Axonometric views of each eye catcher.
Above: A Section analysis of one eye
catcher.

111
jvbrice
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

James Brice
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“anThree water collection systems, a bioswale,

aqueduct, and a series of folded roof forms
encourage the growth of a new symbiosis between
humans and ecological co-inhabitants. Each
year, native species nurtured in greenhouses are
planted, sowing the seeds for future stewardship.

”
In 20 years time, what relationships will flourish?

112
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Opposite: Satellite pavilion. Top: Main

pavilion. Above: Main pavilion section.

113
krotman
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Katie Rotman
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“different
An Exploration In Sensorial Extremes ¶ Using
media as separate starting points, this
project explores extreme sensorial experiences. The
outcome of each investigation becomes the input
for the subsequent exploration. Each experiment
addresses forms of tension, issues of circulation
and speed, and the sensation of discovery and
wonder through visual, audio and physical cues.
”

114
Computation History Theory Criticism Undergraduate

115
leesoj
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

So Jung Lee
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“a gathering
Mile-Far to Skin-Close ¶ This project suggests
space that evokes the feeling of
togetherness without the requirement of spacial
adjacency. A trio of identical water infrastructures
in different orientations are situated on a shore of
Jamaica Pond. Each structure is developed into
solid and piped surfaces that emits fog on one
side and accommodates bathing on the other.
For viewers from far away, choreography of fog
provides a sense of shared ephemeral experience.
In this case, fog acts as an agent to navigate
you toward the structure. When close-by, the
hyperbolic pools enable one to bathe or swim
with strangers in foggy atmospheres that cater
to degrees of privacy. Not knowing the source of
the fog from a distance, the act of discovering the
malleable edges resonates with Fredrick Olmsted's
romanticist intention for the Emerald Necklace.
”
116
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117
mwangxu
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Mackinley Wang-Xu
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“Necklace
The project seeks to restring the Emerald
through a line that serves both as a
graphic device and as a physical conduit that
transfers heat and vibrations. As one interacts with
the line, one is aware of others interacting with the
same line. People are alone together.
”

118
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119
rellen
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Ellen Marie Reinhard

MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“some
The park is known for its organized and spontaneous activities,
of which no longer happen today. A track system is
introduced that revives the lost tradition of ice skating not on but
rather around Jamaica Pond, with a rink as the central gathering
spot. This deployable structure made of steel and textiles allows for

”
a variety of other activities in warmer months.

Below: Collage of Jamaica Pond.

Opposite Left: Site Plan of Jamaica
Pond. Opposite Right: Structural
Principles and Process.

120
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121
sdmohan
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Sahil Mohan
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“leverage
This project asks how can we, as designers,
design methods, particularly the acts
of constructing a drawing and representation, to
centralize the use of water as a spiritually healing
experience.
”

122
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123
sesil
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Sesil Lee
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“asShadows cast by structures are often thought of

byproducts. In reverse, this project lets shadows
guide the formation of structures. Eleven pavilions
placed across the field use pipes, surfaces and
solids to create alternating shadows throughout the
day that accommodate different patterns of play.
”

124
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125
susanwil
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Susan Williams
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“theThis project addresses the relationship between

viewer and the viewed. Conspired as an
immersive experience, a pair of theaters on opposing
ends of the Emerald Necklace are physically and
visually connected through a performer/walker.
The walker's journey from the North to the South
theater is broadcast for both audiences. The viewing
relationship dynamically changes throughout,
touching upon the neutral, amorous, dominating and

”
surveilled.

126
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127
titova
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Alena Titova
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“Promontory
Modular Community Library at the Pinebank
in Boston, MA ¶ This project
envisions the library as a collection of discrete parts
embedded within the site’s undulating landscape.
The Modular Community Library questions the
importance of efficiency over experience as the
spaced out components guide visitors through the
site and encourage them to slow down and enjoy
the outdoors.
”

128
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Opposite Above: Administrative &

Information Center—Circulation
desk and book organization facility.
Opposite Below: Library Subject
Stacks—A series of buildings to house
the ‘stacks’ of books, categorized
by subject. Left: Reading ‘Room’
—Outdoor gazebo structures with
workstations. Below: Site axonometric
view.

129
ugorji
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Amanda Ugorji
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“thatCurrently, society is crammed with architectures

confirm the biases that it holds. Architectures
that silently repeat to certain bodies that, ''you
don’t belong here''. This short project explores
techniques can we use to design an architecture
that encourages belonging and soothes one’s
anxieties.
”

130
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131
yiqingw
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Yiqing Wang
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“knowledge.
Building Together ¶ Create a manual. Exchange
Mount the towers. Test the materials.
Shape the space. The project is turning the
Emerald Necklace into an activated lab for
self-organized construction where community

”
members are able to gather, learn, and build.

132
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133
yz3535
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Iris Zeng
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.151 Core I Studio ¶ Critics: Brandon Clifford, Rosalyne Shieh, Hans Tursack,
Deborah Garcia

“in Inresponse
Phase ¶ This project is about creating an event
to seasonal emotional vulnerability
and seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Two
inflatables will transform based on a schedule that
is in synchronization to human physiological and
psychological shifts. This project is interested
in the amorphous state of the inflatable and its
change through time. Through physics simulations,
a series of studies provide an understanding of how
an inflatable structure evolves and deforms and
how it will perform with different materiality and

”
physicality.

134
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135
allench+bellac
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Christopher Allen
Bella Carmelita Carriker
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.210 Precedents in Critical Practice ¶ Critic: Antonio Furgiuele

“Because
Scaffolding: (Infra)structure/Ornament ¶
of scaffolding’s long history and regional
Below Left: Hong Kong bamboo scaffolding reveals
regional material flows. Below Right: Scalar disparity
of new construction and existing context reflects
ubiquity, its capacity to function as a signifier often
influx of new wealth that is not reinvested into existing
derives from the specificities and variations of its community. Bottom Left: Beautified scaffolding only seen
deployment, or subversions and reapplications of in wealthier commercial and residential areas signifies
its form. This can include material specificity at a concentration of capital in these areas. Bottom Right:
the scale of a geographical region, flows of capital Beautified scaffolding only seen in wealthier commercial
and residential areas signifies a concentration of capital in
at the scale of a neighborhood, or the valuation of
these areas.
cultural or aesthetic significance at the scale of a
single building.
”

136
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Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.210 4.228 4s.13 4.THG

Caroline Amstutz
David Pankhurst
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.210 Precedents in Critical Practice ¶ Critic: Antonio Furgiuele

“manifesto,
Searching for Slowness ¶ is a new architectural
taking form in a kit, asking participants
Below: Manifesto kit assembly materials.

to contribute to a common understanding of Slow

Architecture. The kit invites readers to assemble a
series of conversations into booklet format, analyze
these conversations, and then reassemble and
synthesize the text into thematic tenets.
”

137
czhong+jbrazier
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Calvin Zhong
Justin Brazier
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.210 Precedents in Critical Practice ¶ Critic: Antonio Furgiuele

“promote
This field guide attempts to close the gap—to
actionable architecture and interventions
at the individual, local, and city level. Through a
matrix of projects situated between the tactical
and the formal and their interventions between
individual and urban scales we hope to break down
the most important characteristics in an effort to
promote repeatability.
”

138
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Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.210 4.228 4s.13 4.THG

Lauren Gideonse
Adriana Giorgis
Susan Williams
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.210 Precedents in Critical Practice ¶ Critic: Antonio Furgiuele

“designed
A trap is a designed device. A building is a
device. Traps have lures. Buildings have
The game can be played at https://leftorright.webflow.io/
but is not smartphone compatible.
destinations. Traps have triggers, components
primed for interaction. Buildings have switches
to flip, door handles to turn, windows to open,
buttons to press. Both are static until you
introduce a participant, and then are framed and
function in response to circumstance and the
physiological aspect of the user. ¶ With this project
we conducted a study of trap typologies through
the Indiana Jones movie franchise and interpreted
those typologies in a mundane situation through
this game.
”

139
jschnitz+titova+krotman
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Jenna Schnitzler
Alena Titova
Katie Rotman
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.210 Precedents in Critical Practice ¶ Critic: Antonio Furgiuele

“performed
Re-Assembly of the Shopping Mall ¶ We
a formal analysis of the mall, collaging
typologies onto a case study footprint. In doing so,
we argue for the necessity of capturing the mall’s
potential to serve another purpose. Our exploration
points to the number of possible adaptations of the
mall into re-assembled components for second-
hand use.
”

140
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Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.210 4.228 4s.13 4.THG

Mackinley Wang-Xu
James Brice
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.210 Precedents in Critical Practice ¶ Critic: Antonio Furgiuele

“nature.
The Zoo often reflects a societal attitude towards
Through the study of the historic trajectory
and material construction of zoos, this dossier
seeks to both unpack the problematics of the Zoo
typology and reveal generative moments that yield
speculative projects that reframe the relationship
between humans and nature.
”

141
rellen+idonovan+jingyunm
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Ellen Marie Reinhard

Inge Donovan
Jingyun Ma
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.210 Precedents in Critical Practice ¶ Critic: Antonio Furgiuele

“hosts
The Tahoe Reno Industrial Center (TRIC)
tech giants such as Google, Switch, Tesla,
Below Left: Architecture of the Loop.
Below Right: Architecture as Chassis.
Blockchains, and Walmart. This case study
investigates how the industrial landscapes of
computation create a test bed for novel utopian
visions. Will these posthuman landscapes, which
currently host pure flows of information, fail as
soon as humans inhabit them?
”

142
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Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.210 4.228 4s.13 4.THG

Amanda Ugorji
Sahil Mohan
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.210 Precedents in Critical Practice ¶ Critic: Antonio Furgiuele

“were
SIISIWSDM is a series of web diagrams that
connected and then pulled apart to compound
Below Left: [SIISIWSDM] Key. Below Right: MIT's Financial
Stability and the Devaluing of Peoples.
multiple accounts of money’s momentum and the
values at MIT. From this investigation, it is apparent
that transparency is not a goal, rather, money creates
scaffolds to produce MIT’s ultimate value, novel
knowledge.
”

143
sesil+yiqingw
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Sesil Lee
Yiqing Wang
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.210 Precedents in Critical Practice ¶ Critic: Antonio Furgiuele

“twoTaleself-growing
of Dwelling ¶ This project investigates
settlements, Kowloon Walled
City and Fes, by re-reading the context and
text from multiple sources to open up a chain
story of dwelling. The extracted diagrams, in-
between fictional bridge, first-person diaries and
photographs provide triadic projections of the

”
narratives.

144
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Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.210 4.228 4s.13 4.THG

Iris Zeng
So Jung Lee
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.210 Precedents in Critical Practice ¶ Critic: Antonio Furgiuele

“employees,
We started this project by tracing Eames Office
their identity, their work, and their
career trajectories to understand how the Eames
Office operated. We set out to investigate not
only their process of creating work as a post-war
interdisciplinary creative enterprise but also how the
authorship was constructed as the structure of the

”
office shifted.

145
MArch, Core III
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J
Core 3 is the concluding studio of the March Program at MIT and is
co-taught with MIT 4.463 Building Technology Systems: Structures
and Envelopes led by Professor Caitlin Mueller and her team. The Core
3 studio explores the architectural problem of designing a space of
production that engages the changing relationships between natural
Architecture and Urbanism:
ecologies and technological systems in the Anthropocene. Students
create, test and develop an architectural design proposal with an
integrated approach to program organization, building structure,
envelope and energy performance. Students are encouraged to position
their work with respect to climate change, and to test their proposals
through hands-on investigations that explore the decarbonization of
materials and construction methods in architecture.

With support from MIT J-WEL

4.153
Architecture Design Core
and the Department, Professors
Sheila Kennedy, Cristina Parreño
and Rami el Samahy focused
Studio III ¶ Critics: Sheila Core 3 on the design problem
Selected Course Descriptions

Kennedy, Rami el Samahy, of a cooperatively owned and

Cristina Parreño ¶ TAs:
Laura Gonzalez, Melika
Konjicanin, Eytan Levi,
Zhicheng Xu
MArch, Core III
operated seaweed farming plant
in Maine. With its provisions
for seawater access, a range of
thermally conditioned spaces,
circulation requirments and
elevated drying areas, the program

provided students with structural,

thermal and daylight criteria, and
emphasized design in section
across changing temporal cycles
of tides and seasons. ¶ The Core
3 studio utilized the media of
architecture as a vehicle to think
about regenerative ocean farming,
seaweed production and FOOD—
food security, food sovereignty
and food heritage. In the service
of this larger project, students
worked in teams to research global
seaweed harvesting infrastructure
and practices, supported by
online talks and visits from
seaweed farmers from around
the world. The studio research
was then adapted to selected
rural and urban sites in Maine.
Studio guests provided their view
points and discussed the work,
with representatives from the

146
 Computation
4.210
4.463
Building Technology
Systems: Structures
and Envelopes ¶ Critic:
Caitlin Mueller ¶ TA: Kiley
Feickert
Architecture + Urbanism
4.228 4s.13
Penobscot Nation and members
of local NGO’s the Cooperative
Development Institute of Maine
(CDI), and the Maine Immigrants’
Rights Coalition (MIRC). ¶ MIT
Core 3 Maker kits were sent
to each Core 3 student and in
the spirt of make/do the studio
became a testing ground for
iterative design processes with
digital and physical work flows—
exploring forces of wind, water,
buoyancy, gravity and everyday
materials, locally found. Studio
work was supplemented by
experimental SEAs (Seaweed
Addressed advanced structures,
exterior envelopes, and
contemporary production
technologies. Continued the
exploration of structural elements
and systems, expanding to include
more complex determinate,
indeterminate, long-span, and
high-rise systems. Topics included
reinforced concrete, steel and
Undergraduate
4.THG
Experience Activities), optional
probe projects where students
could directly work with the multi-
sensorial properties of seaweed
as living infrastructure, food and
building material. Visiting Engineer
Pratik Ravel contributed lectures
and discussions on climate design
and Professor Mark Jarzombek
cross-pollinated design thinking
from his elective course MIT 4.607
Thinking About Architecture: In
History and At Present.
→ P. 148
engineered-wood design, and an
introduction to tensile systems.
The contemporary exterior
envelope was discussed with an
emphasis on the classification of
systems, performance attributes,
and analysis techniques,
material specifications and novel
construction technologies.
147
bath+pduenasg+smoreau
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Benjamin Tasistro-Hart
Patricia Dueñas Gerritsen
Sacha Moreau
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.153 Architecture Design Core Studio III ¶ Critics: Sheila Kennedy, Rami el Samahy,
Cristina Parreño Alonso

“processes
Staggered Ground embeds architecture in
of environmental remediation centering on
the capacity of seaweed to clean water, fertilize our
food, and mediate relationships between water and
land. It proposes the use of seaweed fertilizer in order
to both support local farms on a regional scale and
reduce harmful agricultural runoff into the Penobscot
River watershed. ¶ Staggered Ground assumes a
lack of control, critiquing the tabula-rasa site and
picturesque gaze that render landscape static. Thick
walls operate across a range of scales blurring the
relationship between land and architecture.
”

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Opposite top: Kelp is brought in by

boat from the Penobscot Bay and
hung up to dry. Opposite bottom: Early
detail model of multifaceted thick wall
concept. Top: Nursery render with light
filtering through trombe wall. Bottom:
North elevation.

149
bath+pduenasg+smoreau

150
151
degiulio+marmedr+nalmulla
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Zachariah DeGiulio
Mariana Medrano
Nada AlMulla
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.153 Architecture Design Core Studio III ¶ Critics: Sheila Kennedy, Rami el Samahy,
Cristina Parreño Alonso

“anMuseum ME-A-L (Maine, Auburn-Lewiston) is

adaptive reuse project that integrates the rapidly
growing Somali and East African community of
Lewiston/Auburn into a program of regenerative
farming and seaweed processing. ¶ The Museum
ME-A-L utilizes a strategy of material mining and
reconstruction that we’re calling Carve. Cast. Hold
Fast. The existing bricks, concrete, boulders, and
glass blocks constitute the materials necessary to
transform this former mill building into a public-
facing seaweed growing and harvesting plant that
demonstrates the possibilities of seaweed cultivation
in Maine at present and in the face of climate
change.
”

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153
degiulio+marmedr+nalmulla
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
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155
geltmanj+ewissema+daisyz
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Julian Escudero Geltman

Emily Wissemann
Daisy Ziyan Zhang
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.153 Architecture Design Core Studio III ¶ Critics: Sheila Kennedy, Rami el Samahy,
Cristina Parreño Alonso

“production
(Re)factory envisions a form of seaweed
that not only disregards an
extractive mindset but instead emphasizes the
interdependencies of species inhabiting the tidal
zone. Accommodating vertical seaweed drying as
well as a nursery, re(factory) is a tower composed
of a thickened-walls that reminds us to slow down,
to celebrate the quietness, and to extend our
standards of care, kin and embrace.
”

156
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157
geltmanj+ewissema+daisyz
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

158
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159
haotianw+ohyj+wangyun
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Stewart Haotian Wu
Yoonjae Oh
Chloe Yun Wang
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.153 Architecture Design Core Studio III ¶ Critics: Sheila Kennedy, Rami el Samahy,
Cristina Parreño Alonso

“school
Bailey Island Seaweed School (BISS) is a creator's
where prospective seaweed farmers learn
and personalize their farming strategy. The whole
design is a ‘tidal workshop’, which borrows the power
of nature to create distinct experiences during high
and low tide. We aimed to diversify the learning
experience through a 'shear' form to promote mutual
caring between different user groups and leverage
the distinct landscape experience between high and

”
low tide.

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161
haotianw+ohyj+wangyun
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

162
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163
aboscolo+angelalm+ardalan+ous
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Arthur Boscolo
Angela Loescher-Montal
Ardalan SadeghiKivi
Ous Abou Ras
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.153 Architecture Design Core Studio III ¶ Critics: Sheila Kennedy, Rami el Samahy,
Cristina Parreño Alonso

“form
Barning, a verb that encapsulates an imagined
of Architecture that can accommodate for
unordered and chaotic events in space. With Barning,
this project is an ongoing discussion of adaptation,
distribution, and collective activities that emerge
from diverse and ritualized articulations of space—

”
from sharing, taking, protecting and serving.

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165
aboscolo + angelalm + ardalan + ous
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

166
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167
midowu+pgruber+sammay
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Jola Idowu
Paul Gruber
Sam May
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.153 Architecture Design Core Studio III ¶ Critics: Sheila Kennedy, Rami el Samahy,
Cristina Parreño Alonso

“traditional
Joint Assembly ¶ This project borrows from
Chilotan carpentry techniques to produce
a modular system for seaweed harvesting and
processing. Individual modules allow Algueros to
harvest wild Benthic seaweed independently while
joints allow individuals to join together for communal
and value adding processes.
”

168
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midowu+pgruber+sammay
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jok+kkoskey+sashamck
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Jayson Kim
Katie Koskey
Sasha McKinlay
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.153 Architecture Design Core Studio III ¶ Critics: Sheila Kennedy, Rami el Samahy,
Cristina Parreño Alonso

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“withThetheSeaweed Depository dresses and undresses

seasons, enabling users to tailor the thermal
environment to the local climate and their unique
needs. Insulation layers are maintained, rebuilt and
recycled as needed, ensuring that the building is also
committed to the conversion of cultural knowledge
and craft.
”

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latifa+mearc+npearl+tcousin
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
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Latifa Alkhayat
William Marshall
Natalie Pearl
Tim Cousin
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.153 Architecture Design Core Studio III ¶ Critics: Sheila Kennedy, Rami el Samahy,
Cristina Parreño Alonso

“home
On the coast of Maine's Mount Desert island,
of Acadia National Park, and sacred land of
the Wabanaki people, an architecture that questions
ownership is proposed.
”

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latifa +mearc+npearl+ tcousin

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ofaber+triss+vgr
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
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Olivier Faber
Tristan Searight
Vijay Rajkumar
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.153 Architecture Design Core Studio III ¶ Critics: Sheila Kennedy, Rami el Samahy,
Cristina Parreño Alonso

“facility
SeaChange is a dual-program seaweed processing
and market co-operative located on the
constructive system of inhabitable structural
elements composed of accessible, low-carbon,
waterfront of Portland, Maine. Responding to the local and off-the-shelf materials is central to this
city’s rapidly diversifying population in spite of an
exclusive waterfront, and the increasing importance
project’s design.
”
of sustainable local food systems due to climate
change, the project asks how architecture can
facilitate cultural change through the formation
of new adjacencies of people, food and materials.
Intelligent thermal control and a bespoke

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yujiew+zekunfan
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
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Yujie Wang
Zekun Fan
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.153 Architecture Design Core Studio III ¶ Critics: Sheila Kennedy, Rami el Samahy,
Cristina Parreño Alonso

“typeThisofproject explores the possibility of a new

'bargetechture'' by distributing programs
on floating barges on the sea. The barges can be
released during the seaweed plant's on-season and
attached to the hanger building in the off-season.
The nine-foot tidal difference shapes different
spatial experiences and accessibility between the
barge and hanger.
”

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MArch, Option + Thesis
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Offers a broad range of advanced-level investigations in architectural
design in various contexts, including international sites. Integrates
theoretical and technological discourses into specific topics. Studio
problems may include urbanism and city scale strategies, habitation and
urban housing systems, architecture in landscapes, material investigations
Architecture and Urbanism:
and new production technologies, programmatic and spatial complex
building typologies, and research centered studies.

4.154 MATTER TO DATA explores the

extraction of valuable creative
resources from the manipulation of
MArch, Option + Thesis

Architecture Design MATTER, and the exposure to the

Options Studio: MATTER
TO DATA ¶ Critic: Antón
García-Abril ¶ TA: Jaehun
Woo
Selected Course Descriptions
common forces and energies that
constitute the spatial event, to be
transformed into DATA, source to
engineer, detail and prescribe an
architecture documentation. This
reverse process of design, will allow

students to explore the immense

complexities of play with MATTER,
the observation and analytical
outlook that architects develop
to read the spaces that the game
generates, and how to transform
them into coded DATA to be studied
empirically. Studio Playlist: https://
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL
XENcgPRslPX7n4H1dbz3GGuHQK
Ri2-yE
→ P. 190

4.154
Architecture Design
Options Studio: Sowing
Worlds, Growing Power ¶
Critic: Rania Ghosn ¶
TA: Mark Anthony
Hernandez-Cornejo
The manufactured abundance
of industrial agriculture has been
paralleled by the rise in food
insecurity and its disproportionate
impact on communities of color.
East Boston, the site of the
studio, is one such urban area
with limited access to affordable
and nutritious food. In response,
the studio "Growing Power,
Sowing Worlds" makes visible
the underlying inequities of food
distribution and deploys the
architectural imagination to begin
the repair work in architecture and
agriculture and design. In the first

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(4.154 continued) half of the semester, the students
worked individually on a series
of 4 prompts: "The Cook, The
Philosopher, The Activist, and The
Curator" to attend to the various
agencies in food preparation
and associated modes of
representation. The Cook
concocted a Subnature still life, a
la David Gissen. The Philosopher
positioned her dinner party in a
worldview. The Activist charted
the organizational structure and
networks of a food related agency.
The Curator, bringing together the
above three actors, produced a
situation that assembled a public
around a food matter of concern
in a site in East Boston. In the
second half of the semester, the
4.154
Architecture Design
The COVID-19 pandemic has
demonstrated our reliance
on public schools, not only
Options Studio: Pandemic to educate our students, but
Studio ¶ Critic: John also to provide key community
Ochsendorf ¶ TA: services. ¶ The Cambridge Public
Charlotte D'Acierno Schools district has a number of
aging facilities. This studio has
examined six elementary schools
and reimagined them for both the
current moment and for a post-
pandemic future. ¶ Cambridge
public schools not only serve their
students through learning and
transformation, but they also are
important spaces for community
service and engagement. These
schools function as voting
locations, community school
4.THG Program of research and writing
of thesis; to be arranged by
the student with supervising
Graduate Thesis committee.
Undergraduate
4.THG
students worked in groups of 3
to develop a project on a domain-
site in East Boston. The "site"
provocation was that East Boston
was a "leftover" or "byproduct" of
much infrastructural priorities—
terraforming, highways, tunnels,
airports, discharge, emissions, etc.
Could these same (subnature)
conditions—the Greenway-
public lands, the Ted Williams
Page # Chelsea Creek, and Logan
Tunnel,
Airport–be transformed into sites
to grow food and the city and
in the process challenge values
embedded in food networks?
→ P. 212
program centers, afterschool
childcare, pre-school childcare,
as well as places for urban
gardening. ¶ A growing body of
research demonstrates that many
strategies to reduce school energy
consumption also positively
impact student learning outcomes.
Responding to the COVID-19
pandemic requires significant
changes to learning environments,
which should catalyze other
essential changes to the quality
and efficiency of schools in the US.
→ P. 228
→ P. 248
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Carolyn Tam
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Matter To Data ¶ Critic: Antón García-Abril

“man-made
Skin & Bones ¶ An interplay between the
and natural. Situated at the Shing
Mun reservoir in Hong Kong, the project aims to
keeps nature as an integral part of the overall plan,
without felling a single tree. By utilizing the existing
woodland, the project became a structural game
between tree columns, man-made poles and the
fabric facade.
”

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Danny Griffin
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Matter To Data ¶ Critic: Antón García-Abril

“practices
Home, Erratic ¶ Conventional construction
disrupt geological flows of matter,
contorting materials to fit inside of clean orthogonal
walls. What if the innate properties of the material
guided construction? This project investigates
the act of transporting and pouring matter as a
constructive process in itself, one which preserves

”
ties to material origins.

Left: Isometric view entryway. Below: Section Model,

Between sand and shell. Opposite Top: Transverse Section.
Opposite Bottom: Site Model

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Gil Sunshine
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Matter To Data ¶ Critic: Antón García-Abril

“coastal
From the early 19th to early 20th century, central
Maine was a major source of granite for
the United States building industry. With the
development of steel and concrete construction in
the early 20th century, Maine’s granite industry, and
the skilled labor required to keep it running, all but
disappeared. Built from waste rock from the Crotch
Island Quarry in Stonington, ME, Phanteric House is
a home made of stone for an age without masons.
”

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Inez Ow
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Matter To Data ¶ Critic: Antón García-Abril

“a home?
A Gentle Parasite ¶ What makes a house,
A house becomes a home when we
understand how it works, just as we strive to
understand how our own bodies work. Like that of
a body, the anatomy of a house comprises organs,
vessels, bones, and skin. However, our estrangement
from these vessels and organs of our houses
prevents us from developing a relationship with
them. We become reliant on others to diagnose,
repair, and simply be concerned about the health
of this very important space where we live, rest,
recover, reflect, bond, aspire, and self-actualize.
¶ Our home is nestled on the rooftop of an existing
shophouse in Singapore, gently tapping onto the
existing supply and drainage ductwork rising from
the back alley down below. The back alley is where
the systems of the shophouses have been cast away.
Not in our home. In our home, the anatomy of the
home is put on display. After all, recognition is the
first step to understanding — how the air around you
is cooled, where your hot water is coming from, how
your waste is carried away...and learning the source
of that constant but comforting low hum that you
hear before falling asleep every night.
”

Left Top: Physical model. Left Below: Interior. Opposite

Top: The anatomy of a home is put on display. Opposite
Bottom: A Gentle Parasite.

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jysim
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Jinyoung Sim
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Matter To Data ¶ Critic: Antón García-Abril

“demolition.
This project is about designing a home through
As the world constantly evolves around
social, cultural, and economic parameters, today’s
construction should emphasize their adaptive
structure to pursue diversity. This project illustrates
a practical approach to a new understanding of
architecture and humanity affected by expected
change. As opposed to the traditional approach of
constructing a new building upon demolition, this
work renovates the past building structure through
deconstruction. Concrete, as the only ingredient,
results in a building balanced by gravity without
mechanical assistance.
”

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Mengqiao Zhao
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Matter To Data ¶ Critic: Antón García-Abril

“ One-Child Family House ¶ This project is a

community residence for one-child multi-generation
families in Beijing. It is a community, which allows
these families to live together. Inspired by traditional
co-living spaces in Hutong, this project takes bar-
shaped living spaces and organizes them as a three-
dimensional collective living space.
”

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Ruth Blair Moyers

MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Matter To Data ¶ Critic: Antón García-Abril

“ideaThisandproject is about the duality of home, as an

as a physical reality bounded to a place.
Both itself and an impression of itself, the house
is made of both a concrete form and the timber
formwork use to cast it. The two spaces are mirrors
of each other.
”

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ryanjw
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Jie (Ryan) Wu
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Matter To Data ¶ Critic: Antón García-Abril

“toThe artists couple clients asked: ''We don’t want

live together; we want to live in the vicinity of
each other.'' The clients, Mr. and Mrs. Flanders,
want to live under the same roof, but do not want
to share living spaces, fearing that cohabitation
could erode their independent creativity. How can a
house for a couple that also separates the couple be
designed?
”

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thadd
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Thaddeus Lee
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Matter To Data ¶ Critic: Antón García-Abril

“ Oneiric House ¶ All this time spent indoors

during quarantine has produced a kind of unending
daydream. With this project, I try to bring this
image of home into focus through the architectural
elements of roofs and eaves. The resultant Oneiric
House relishes in the slow passage of time and

”
light.

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Zhicheng Xu
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Matter To Data ¶ Critic: Antón García-Abril

“coastal
What constitutes a 'home' in the context of the
landscape in Maine? Perhaps, for a site like
this, a concaved terrain surrounded by granite and
tidal current, all it requires is a roof. While working
with the native landscape, this project explores the
possibility of building a house with no facade and
a roof that becomes an extension of the coastal

”
terrain.

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zhifei
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
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Zhifei Xu
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Matter To Data ¶ Critic: Antón García-Abril

“Chinese
This project is about revisiting traditional
landscape gardens as the paradigm of
an ideal home and poetic dwelling. The project
can be viewed as a blunt translation of traditional
Chinese gardens through digital workflow (matter
to data to matter) and contemporary construction
techniques. It attempts to go back to the origin,
finding sources of inspiration from traditional art
and culture like landscape painting or garden, and
rethink contemporary Chinese architecture without
modernism and colonial influence.
”

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adoor+clementr+tboes
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
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Angie Door
Ryan Clement
Taylor Boes
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Growing Power, Sowing Worlds ¶ Critic: Rania Ghosn

“tomyceliUS ¶ The underground has the potential

be a breeding ground for a new ecology of
nourishment, initially for fungi as it is suited to the
deep, dank atmosphere. In existing and newly-dug
tunnels we are free to grow food and build political
movements safely. Over time we increase in number
and support those in need with our crops, ready to
re-emerge to face life above the surface.
”

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cmatthai+yacoby+mwaddle
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Charlotte Matthai
Yaara Yacoby
Marisa Concetta Waddle
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Growing Power, Sowing Worlds ¶ Critic: Rania Ghosn

“oneInwhere
Relation To is a project of a speculative future—
we re-examine our current modes of
being and hypothesize on new rituals, behaviors, and
architectures based on a system of values grounded
in undiscriminating empathy and blurred boundaries
between human, earth, and machine.
”

Left Top: “An Invitation to Dine.” Left Bottom: “Filter

Landscape." Opposite Top: “Issue, Position, Strategy.”
Opposite Bottom: “Mudscape.”

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emmajur+erinwong+jlsong
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
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Emma Jurczynski
Erin Wong
Alice Jia Li Song
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Growing Power, Sowing Worlds ¶ Critic: Rania Ghosn

“foodLeftovers ¶ The community of East Boston faces

insecurity, environmental contamination, and
Bottom: This scene imagines the planning of a network
of civic hubs and their programming. Opposite Top:
gentrification. This project explores food insecurity Newspaper clippings that address the SNAP program
and Olmsted's Wood Island Park in East Boston that was
and the various approaches taken to address it. We demolished for the expansion of the Logan Airport.
call for food justice as a reimagining of the current
food system that goes beyond putting "band-aid"
like assistance programs in place, to one that starts
within the community for which it serves.
”

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1969
Olmsted’s Wood
Island Park was
demolished.

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The ICA The Immigration Station The Boston Sugar Refinery

Above, Top to Bottom: Three curatorial proposals to take

place in East Boston— a walking tour; ghost structures; a
parade. Opposite, Top to Bottom: The composting stop in
the walking tour under the highway; Suffolk Down Racing
Track reassembled and cultivated; reimagined public school
playgrounds that integrate food as a curriculum.

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DAY 1 YEAR 1 YEAR 1.5 YEAR 2 YEAR 5

LOCATE SALVAGE RE-ASSEMBLE CULTIVATE FUTURE

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Jitske Swagemakers
Yutan Sun
Ellen Wood
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Growing Power, Sowing Worlds ¶ Critic: Rania Ghosn

“theTheatmosphere—the
Right to the Air redefines the conception of
air that we collectively breathe
and inhabit. The conditions of the atmosphere are
intertwined in the politics, economics, and ecologies
of its embedded territories, globally and locally. With
the increasing threat of climate change, the once
ambiguous and invisible issues of the atmosphere
need to take center stage in our proposal.
”

Left Top: Zones of clean air formed by inflatable structures,

expanding on the logic of the airbag system. Left Bottom:
The Politics of Air—Climate Discrepancies between Boston
Logan Airport and the East Boston Community. Opposite
Top: Celebrating the Uncontrollable—Conditioning of egg.
Opposite Bottom: Drawing from the Cyborg Manifesto
by Donna Haraway, this strategy invites us to rethink the
spatial organization of Logan airport in relation to the
human and the non-human.

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Ana McIntosh
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Pandemic Resilient Schools ¶ Critics: John Ochsendorf,
Michael Murphy, Sara Jensen Carr

“proposal
This design proposal builds upon the primary
with interventions to the existing building
and recommends appropriating the lot near the site
for a new preschool and kindergarten classroom
building. Key interventions include: 1) Carve ground
and open facade along south of existing building to
extend indoor eating space in the basement to the
outside and create new play areas and performance
space. 2) Create solar chimneys in existing
building to improve ventilation for classrooms. 3)
Reconfigure existing classrooms. 4) New two-
story building on adjacent lot for preschool and
kindergarten classrooms and solo nook spaces, with
outdoor garden classrooms and natural play area,
and connection to nearby Green-Rose Heritage
Park
”

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arenasa
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Ana Arenas
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Pandemic Resilient Schools ¶ Critics: John Ochsendorf,
Michael Murphy, Sara Jensen Carr
“Agassiz
Maria Baldwin is a preK-5 school located in the
neighborhood in Cambridge between
Harvard and Porter Squares. This four-story building
is nestled tightly into a residential neighborhood,
fully surrounded by houses and apartment
complexes. Its long side opens out to Sacramento
St, a quiet one-way avenue with a playground across
the street, which the school makes use of on a daily
basis, and a park just to the west which teachers
also regularly take their students to. ¶ The school
site itself is tight, with the building taking up the
majority of the property. While the school already
reaches outside of its property lines to make use of
the neighboring park and playground, this project
proposes to maximize its presence on the corner
of Sacramento and Oxford streets as a center for
learning and living in harmony with the environment.
¶ This is founded on the concept of ecopsychology:
the ideology that a close relationship with the
natural world promotes physical and emotional
wellbeing. It’s based on the concept that the human
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psyche is inextricably bound to the environment. As
such, it argues that only by perceiving ourselves as
an integral part of the natural world and committing
to the health of our surrounding environment can
we ourselves achieve full mental, emotional, and
physical health. ¶ To that end, this project proposes
to transform the Maria Baldwin Elementary School
from a small school campus to an ecological
living and learning habitat. The project intervenes
360 degrees around the building site as well as
inside the building for a holistic approach toward
an environmentally healthy and conscious place
of learning. ¶ This series of interventions seeks
to reduce the school’s carbon footprint, create
a positive impact on its environment, and most
importantly, integrate sustainability measures
into the students’ daily experiences to create
informal learning opportunities that will help shape
childrens’ consciouses for a healthy and harmonious
relationship with our non-human living home and
family.
”
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carodrig
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Carol-Anne Rodrigues
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Pandemic Resilient Schools ¶ Critics: John Ochsendorf,
Michael Murphy, Sara Jensen Carr

“Cambridgeport
This proposal reimagines the current
school to introduce new ventilation,
create an engaging landscape and introduce
new innovative learning spaces. By studying the
current conditions, a ventilation system that used
the existing cavities in the walls is proposed to
promote air flow in the classrooms. The wall cavities
are repeated again in the new extension that
has cubbies for children to open and peer inside,
allowing the architecture to also serve as a teaching
tool. A green courtyard space is proposed between
the historic building and extension to allow for
increased sunlight in the communal spaces.
”

Above: Playground Render. Left: Section through Historic

Building. Opposite Top: Landscape Site Plan. Opposite
Bottom: Section Perspective through New Extension &
Courtyard.

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ginevra
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Ginerva D’Agostino
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Pandemic Resilient Schools ¶ Critics: John Ochsendorf,
Michael Murphy, Sara Jensen Carr
Top: View of main entrance to school building and café on
a snowy day. Bottom: View of science classroom showing
how the basement has been altered and opened up to
proposed outdoor planters. Opposite Top: View of site plan
showing the new ground treatment and classrooms and
section showing ventilation and renewable energy strategy.
Opposite Bottom: View of proposed rooftop illustrating how
students can learn from the intelligence embedded in the
building.
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“in The project proposes to take the logic embedded
the historic building as the point of departure for
the intervention in order to allow for the building
to breath. The expansion of the school considers
demolishing the latest addition in favor of a series
of shallow single loaded volumes that arrange
themselves in different ways around the existing
circulation axis. This is allows for further cross
ventilation and enhanced daylighting conditions
whilst still retaining the rhythm and technology of
the ventilation shafts. The second fundamental
strategy is a considered approach to the treatment
of the remaining ground plane where both new
courtyards are introduced as extensions of the
classroom and the spaces buried in the basement
of the existing building, are opened up by virtue
of carving into the surrounding terrain. These
then exist in varying relationships to the public
realm and the way the school gathers, whether
it is in a classroom or as a whole. The courtyard
on the bottom right is really the way you enter
the building and therefore acts as an extension
of the public realm. For that reason the project
takes into consideration the design of the whole
right-of-way in front of the building extending
the sidewalk, paving it in pervious material and
introducing a variety of opportunities to move, sit,
park a bicycle or even just wait for the bus under
the shade of a canopy. ¶ The proposed site plan
promotes a stronger connection between inside
and outside. The cafeteria now is facing both
courtyards integrating an open kitchen as well
as learning kitchens. The classrooms can open
up to the outdoors taking over circulation space
transforming it into a learning area. The project also
proposes a new roof to allow students to learn from
the strategies embedded in the building such as the
solar panels and the ventilation chimneys as well as
adding an outdoor eating and resting area.
”
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Jonathon Brearley
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Pandemic Resilient Schools ¶ Critics: John Ochsendorf,
Michael Murphy, Sara Jensen Carr

“goals
Sited at the Kennedy-Longfellow School, the
of these proposed interventions are to create
a learning environment that is not only pandemic
resilient, but is healthy, is an exceptional learning
environment, and is a place for togetherness within
the school and community.
”

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lyncedt
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Lynced Torres
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Pandemic Resilient Schools ¶ Critics: John Ochsendorf,
Michael Murphy, Sara Jensen Carr

“diverse
Fletcher Maynard Academy maintains a rich,
population of teachers and students as it is
the Cambridge Elementary school that maintains
a majority of African American students who
come from economically disadvantaged homes
and experience disabilities, particularly Autism
Spectrum Disorder. Under the given protocols and
issues experienced with COVID-19, the school’s
future development is set through a series of
staged interventions, including: the creation of
a school front and face that allows for increased
fundraising and support of existing programs;
increasing the health and ventilation of shared
spaces and classroom spaces so ASD students
learn in a safe environment, without the use of
masks at all times since this strategy is unrealistic
for all kids; increasing desirability for the school
amongst middle class families to further prompt
future developments as often these parents are the
drivers for change in CPS school systems; and lastly,
establishing the school as a center and HOME for
ASD learners.
”
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naref
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Nare Filiposyan
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.154 Options Studio: Pandemic Resilient Schools ¶ Critics: John Ochsendorf,
Michael Murphy, Sara Jensen Carr

“School
The rooftop addition proposed for Peabody Public
in Cambridge, is a strategy for addressing
the school’s biggest concern—shortage of space.
The project addresses the long term resilience of the
school by providing richer environments for learning.
The rooftop garden allows for integration of food into

”
the entire curriculum.

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auriyane
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
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Arditha Auriyane
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.s13 Building the Page: 2020-2021 MIT Architecture Publication Workshop
¶ Critics: Nicholas de Monchaux, Amanda Moore, Miko McGinty

“(agePart9)ofanda minigraph that was presented to Brielle

Maddie (age 11) as a target audience.
The minigraph tries to explain a project that was
done for a studio, which was centered around
challenging the structures of a museum. The book
attempts to capture and direct the eye path to
attract audience to certain parts of the drawing that
explains the concept.
”

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Carol-Anne Rodrigues
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.s13 Building the Page: 2020-2021 MIT Architecture Publication Workshop
¶ Critics: Nicholas de Monchaux, Amanda Moore, Miko McGinty

“ofThe first assignment challenged us to explain one

our studio projects to someone unfamiliar with our
project. My target audience was an undergraduate
student new to architecture. By formatting the
project into a 'instruction map' with colorful visuals
and encouraging advice, it allowed to project to be
explained to someone who may not be familiar with
architecture.
”

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Edward Wang
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.s13 Building the Page: 2020-2021 MIT Architecture Publication Workshop
¶ Critics: Nicholas de Monchaux, Amanda Moore, Miko McGinty

“activity
The minigraph is a set of 4 posters designed as
sheets for my teenage cousin.
”

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Alice Jia Li Song

MArch Candidate ¶ 4.s13 Building the Page: 2020-2021 MIT Architecture Publication Workshop
¶ Critics: Nicholas de Monchaux, Amanda Moore, Miko McGinty

“kindergarteners—both
A punk zine for highschoolers and a cutout book for
designed to teach kids about
the history of the YMCA and the development of

”
radical exercise.

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Patricia Dueñas Gerritsen

MArch Candidate ¶ 4.s13 Building the Page: 2020-2021 MIT Architecture Publication Workshop
¶ Critics: Nicholas de Monchaux, Amanda Moore, Miko McGinty

“wasBuilding on work done in Core II, most of which

done in collaboration with Jayson Kim and
Arthur Boscolo, I created a short book that redraws
and reframes the project for an audience of one: my
mom. The book refers to personal conversations and
anecdotes alongside the intentions, process work,
and outcomes of the project.
”

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Zhicheng Xu
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.s13 Building the Page: 2020-2021 MIT Architecture Publication Workshop
¶ Critics: Nicholas de Monchaux, Amanda Moore, Miko McGinty

“changed
The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically
our lives. Confined in one's apartment and
commuting only between the bedroom and the study,
routines for living and working collide. The "fruit
track" attempts to document one's daily fruit intake
to maintain an optimistic and healthy lifestyle during

”
this unusual time.

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Adiel Benitez
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.THG Graduate Thesis ¶ Advisor: Miho Mazereeuw ¶ Readers: Susanne Schindler, Marisa
Morán Jahn

“withPriced out of Paradise ¶ This thesis takes issue

the commodification of housing, and its
adverse effects on the vulnerable communities
of greater Miami. It works to re-contextualize
the cooperative ownership of housing within the
Miami context, considering its deployment as an
architectural response who’s programming and
spatial organizations respond to both collective use
and collective need.
”

Left: Cyanotype 8.5x11''. Bottom: Project Section.

Opposite Top: Ground Floor Plan—Community
Programming. Opposite Bottom: Cyanotype 8.5x11''.

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249
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Arditha Auriyane
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.THG Graduate Thesis ¶ Advisor: Mariana Ibañez ¶ Readers: Les Norford, Kiel Moe

“tectonics,
Post-Arium is an exploration of new forms,
and other ways to produce comfort. In
Post-arium, we question comfort: on whose and
what terms are we basing it on? In the face of
global temperature change, we need to challenge
the boundaries of comfort, beyond solving for

”
efficiency.

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Bottom Left: The extended Post-arium psychometric

chart. Right Top: The village street, beyond what is
materially seen. Right Below: Fish drying by the sunroom,
beyond what is materially seen. Right Bottom: Designing
for air buoyancy.

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Chen Chu
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.THG Graduate Thesis ¶ Advisor: Miho Mazereeuw ¶ Readers: Nasser Rabbat,
Delia Duong Ba Wendel
“Environmental
To Know is to Empower: Chagos Institute of
Humanities ¶ Chagos Archipelago
was sanitized in the 1970s for a US military base
on Diego Garcia, following a secret ''exchange of
notes'' that escaped legislative approval. 1,500
Chagossian evictees, ''dumped'' in Mauritius and
Seychelles, have since become surplus population
dwarfed by the planetary-scale military-colonial
network. Of all the denounced legal ammunition,
the Chagos Marine Protected Area (MPA), along
with its fiction of terra nullius, commits dual violence
in legitimizing environmental fortification and
denying 200 years of Chagossian inhabitation. The
assemblage of the military, security and scientific
institutions, by defining the Chagos MPA as an
''organic rationality,'' deploys a generalized and
abstracted sense of ecological insecurity in aspiration
for global environmental administration in opposition
to traditional bodies of government. ¶ This thesis
proposes the Chagos Institute of Environmental
Humanities, a trojan horse with dual agency. While
staging an apparent conformity to restrictions and
regulations imposed by the UK-US alliance, the
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Institute quietly supports an undercover subversive
project of decolonization. Beyond physical
resettlement, it recognizes Chagossians’ sustained
efforts in resisting colonialism and militarism. It
remembers and foregrounds the forgotten 200
years of Chagossian inhabitation. To know is to
reclaim. To know is to empower. The new system of
environmental humanities rejects the nature-culture
dichotomy. In problematizing the anthropocentric
bias within our production of knowledge, it reveals
the racist and colonialist othering of non-Western
epistemologies. There is not a deficit in knowledge,
in a quantitative sense, but a deficiency at the
epistemic level. Rather than anxiously producing
more, it is urgent that we reclaim prior Chagossian
knowledge in the formation of the future. But not
futuristic, the proposed Environmental Humanities
is rooted in Chagossians’ past. We need the pluralist
conviction that allows us to treat Chagossian and
Western epistemologies equally and to merge
them in a nuanced way. This is not an inconceivable
revolution, as long as we have Chagossians with us
through the journey.
”
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Opposite: The blue-washed Chagos as a territorialized node
of de-territorialized powers. Below: Garden of Diaspora,
East Point. Bottom: Rooting Heritage, Former Plantation.

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Isadora Dannin
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.THG Graduate Thesis ¶ Advisor: Mark Jarzombek ¶ Readers: Rosalyne Shieh,
Azra Akšamija

“Gables
Seven Ways of Reading The House of the Seven
¶ Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote that fiction
Opposite: ''Chapter 2: Origins and Originals.''
Top: ''Chapter 3: A Mirror with a Memory.'' Below:
''Chapter 4: Solid Unrealities.'' Bottom: ''Chapter
''provides a way of being in the world without
5: An Impalpable Claim''
being of it.'' The House of the Seven Gables that
he constructs does precisely that. This thesis looks
closely at a house in Salem, MA with the same name,
and asks where architecture stands in relation to that
statement.
”

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255
cyhlee+dacierno+jaehunw
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Clarence Lee
Charlotte D'Acierno
Jaehun Woo
MArch Candidates ¶ 4.THG Graduate Thesis ¶ Advisor: Mariana Ibañez ¶ Readers: John Oschendorf,
Mark Jarzombek

“Steel
Ferrous Futures: Scenario Planning for Global
¶ 2 trillion kilograms of steel are produced
around the world on an annual basis, enough to
construct 17,000 Birds Nest Stadiums, 31,000
Empire State Buildings, or 480,000 Guggenheim
Bilbao skeletons. If all of this steel were to fill Central
Park, this single ingot would be nearly 10 meters
tall. If this steel were to wrap around the earth, it
would circle the equator more than 3 times. ¶ As
populations grow and urban centers densify, so too
will our material dependence. This thesis combines
methods from scientific research and scenario
planning to develop a series of speculative futures
as a response to this ever-changing and challenging
environment. These scenarios provide plausible
futures that operate within the confines of the
current capitalist system; they highlight the absurdity
of our current practice without becoming absurdly
unrelatable.
”

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“alternative
The goal of scenario design is not to produce an
material but to question the consequences
of our current practice, while acknowledging that
we as designers operate within a larger geopolitical
context. While there are many disciplines involved in
the global steel industry, architecture is still culpable.
At 56%, the built environment is the single largest
consumer of steel.
”

258
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cyhlee+dacierno+jaehunw
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“ourInmaterial
imagining these scenarios, we reconstruct
culture and the effects that these
speculations might have in the complex networks
in which this material is embedded. ''They allow us
to prepare for the future...by providing a context
for speaking about the unspeakable.'' While this
thesis questions the pervasiveness of steel in the
built environment, it is our hope that this reciprocal
research-design methodology could be expanded or
applied to other issues of global complexity.
”

260
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dawhi
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism
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David White
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.THG Graduate Thesis ¶ Advisor: Mark Jarzombek ¶ Readers: Brandon Clifford,
Caitlin Mueller
“firstThorough ¶ Henry David Thoreau writes in the
chapter of his book, Walden, that before he
could begin work on his house by the pond, he first
had to borrow an axe. ''Near the end of March, 1845,
I borrowed an axe and went down to the woods by
Walden Pond, nearest to where I intended to build
my house, and began to cut down some tall, arrow
pines, still in their youth, for timber.'' This passage,
which marks the moment when Thoreau first
turns to describing building his house, illustrates
something surprising. Thoreau’s famous experiment
in self reliance began with another man’s tools. As
independent as Thoreau intended his enterprise
to be, for Thoreau, borrowing is more rule than
exception, appearing repeatedly and in varying
ways throughout his account. He relies frequently
on materials, knowledge, labor, etc. that are outside
himself or his capacity to create. The nails he bought
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from a blacksmith. The boards were recycled from
an old shanty. The land itself and the trees on it were
loaned to him by his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Tools, natural resources, supply chains, help, etc.
had to be bought, loaned, or scavenged in order for
Thoreau to build and live, as he says, ''by the labor
of his hands alone.'' This thesis is interested in that
shortfall, where Thoreau’s ideals about how to build
and live, which is represented in the Walden text,
do not match the true constraints of building and
living, which are represented in the architecture.
Proposed here is a series of alternatives for Walden.
Each carries with it as constraint and ideal of
independence. Each exaggerates the effects of
those constraints as a way to better uncover their
inherent tensions. Together, the designs serve as a
manual, playing out the implications in design of the
limits that define them.
”
Left: A reconstruction of Thoreau's
cabin at Walden. The layers of the
building have been pulled apart
to show how Thoreau might have
assembled it.
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kjj
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Kailin Jones
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.THG Graduate Thesis ¶ Advisor: Azra Akšamija ¶ Readers: Hans Tursack,
Mark Jarzombek
“theWalter Benjamin writes, "that which withers in
age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of
the work of art." In this thesis, I explore that which
flourishes in the act of reproduction. This thesis
examines the evolution of reproductive techniques
in and transmissions of art and how it has affected
artistic invention. ¶ According to Benjamin, aura is
rooted in site specificity, ritual, uniqueness and non-
reproducibility, failing to acknowledge the migration
of objects, people and tools that have circulated
throughout the world transmitting aesthetics and
transferring skill and knowledge. In After Art, David
Joselit asks for an expansion of the definition of
art to "embrace heterogeneous configurations of
relationships or links," freeing art from belonging
to any particular time, space or medium. ¶ The
ancient craft of beauty has never been stagnant or
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isolated from the act of reproduction. Rather, it is
constantly evolving along with the innovations of
technologies, the reach and speed of distribution
networks, and changes in politics, economics, and
culture. Artists such as Vermeer used reproductive
techniques, such as using the camera lucida to
assist in accurately rendering his images. ¶ The
thesis uses China as a site of reproduction, both
historic and contemporary, to reinforce the cultural
complexities of reproduction. The sixth principle
of Chinese painting,"传移模写" translates word-
for-word to "transmitting-transferring, imitating-
writing." The first two characters define the
motivation for copying and the second pair address
the method. The process of copying has the ability
to transfer knowledge and skill from the original to
the copier; the copy itself facilitates the preservation
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of the original from lootings and destruction;
the proliferation of the copy alters the original’s
accessibility and introduces new interactions and
contexts. ¶ The sacred line between original and copy
is not eroding. The distinction between production
and reproduction has always been a blurry one. What
motivates copying? How do we copy? What is a copy
vis a vis an original? Through a series of experiments
in copying, this thesis examines these questions
by reproducing originals of objects of contentious
origins and co-opting tools and techniques of
reproduction.
”

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Melika Konjicanin
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.THG Graduate Thesis ¶ Advisor: Cristina Parreño Alonso ¶ Readers: Sheila Kennedy,
Azra Akšamija
“fallThe Factory of Coexistence ¶ Since the
of Yugoslavia thirty years ago, Bosnia and
Herzegovina’s once booming industrial system
has left a landscape of its skeletons. Each town in
the country that had been oriented around factory
life now houses a ruin—a constant reminder of
what once was. The negative effects of the fall of
the country’s industrial system are experienced
universally among its citizens, socially, economically,
and environmentally. ¶ Once these industrial
infrastructures brought prosperity to towns, though
their environmental impact was neglected. Today
they continue to exist on contaminated land, within
the context of an ethnically segregated country,
ruled by a nepotistic political elite. ¶ The complexity
and corruption of the government’s inner workings
implies the lack of any system in place to protect
both its citizens and their cultural history, which
includes the factories. ¶ Twenty-five years after
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the end of the war, Bosnia and Herzegovina is still
rebuilding itself (or in most cases, failing to). ¶ This
thesis proposes a modest first step towards an
alternate approach of revitalization through the active
healing of an industrial ruin. The defunct factory
building will serve as both a locus for conversations
of reflection on the nation’s past, and as a functional
reminder that social, economic and environmental life
cycles can be healed and renewed. ¶ The Factory of
Coexistence is a new expanded architectural typology
that reintroduces the industrial ruin back into cycles
of life. Sited in the ruins of the first factory in Bosnia
and Herzegovina and the first steel plant in southern
Europe, the Factory of Coexistence exploits the
transformative potential of the ruin in the rewriting
of social, economic and environmental stories. In the
Factory of Coexistence, architecture is a medium
that reconnects us with the past, while acting in the
present to transform the future.
”
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Nynika Jhaveri
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.THG Graduate Thesis ¶ Advisor: Azra Akšamija ¶ Readers: Lawrence Vale,
James Wescoat

“roleGardens of Resistance ¶ This thesis questions the

of architecture in envisioning and engaging the
tools of resistance in the context of political, urban
capital centers. It narrates the stories of three actors
as they reclaim the Mughal Gardens of Lutyen's
New Delhi, re-inscribing criticality, imagination and
introspection into the charged landscape through
carefully crafted socio-spatial resistances, each in
response to their own historical moments.
”

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scinalli
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Sydney Cinalli
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.THG Graduate Thesis ¶ Advisor: Brandon Clifford, Deborah Garcia ¶ Reader:
Cristina Parreño Alonso

“Architecture
Reclaiming the Estranged: Imagining an
of Excess ¶ This thesis reframes
plastic waste as a resource rather than a
contentious collection of artifacts. By speculating
on its life beyond estrangement, this perversion
is explored in three parafictions which conflate
plastic’s lifespan with socioeconomic, cultural, and
environmental conditions unique to the Hawaiian
Islands.
”
Below: plastic earth—graveyard. Bottom: we reap, they
sew—construction. Opposite: plastic earth—artifact.

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271
SMArchS
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The Master of Science in Architecture Studies (SMArchS) is a two-
year program of advanced study founded on research and inquiry in
architecture as a discipline and as a practice. The program is intended
both for students who already have a professional degree in architecture
and those interested in advanced non-professional graduate study.
Architecture and Urbanism:

4.163J
Urban Design Studio ¶
Critics: Rafi Segal, Alan
Berger ¶ TA: Mohamad
Nahle
Selected Course Descriptions
Throughout its history, Urban
Design (and allied design
disciplines with a capital "D") has
been the practice of a privileged
few. And as a manifestation of
power urban design has assisted
in translating client(s) desires
to control the city through the
shaping of objects and buildings,
voids and landscapes, and
infrastructural networks. Moreover,
our accumulated urbanity

parallels the constructions of

cultural narratives reflected
through what a society chooses
to build and preserve, erase and
destroy. Within the context of the
American city, the protocols and
processes through which cities
are shaped, and their constituent
urban elements and symbols,
have served a world view of the
parties in charge of the process,
often not the majority of those
affected by decisions. This studio
addresses both the inherent and
historic inequalities and exclusions
SMArchS

which Urban Design entails as

a discipline by asking the most
critical and broadest of questions,
yet demanding that physical
plans—novel ‘typologies of
equity’—be produced as the result
of the process.

→ P. 274

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4.228
Contemporary Urbanism
This critical introduction to
key contemporary positions in
urbanism investigates how to
uncertainties. With that purpose,
instead of relying on an inherited,
static vocabulary of spatial
Proseminar: Theory and research, represent, and design levels (such as city, metropolis,
Representation ¶ Critic: territories that respond to the or region), the seminar explores
Roi Salgueiro Barrio ¶ challenges of the 21st century. what new categories can help
TA: Qianqian Wan The course treats urbanization designers to conceive the urban
as a socio-spatial process of as a multilayered, dynamic and
territorial structuring ultimately transcalar phenomenon, affecting
shaping the world at large. The environments and artifacts,
class then mobilizes this planetary humans and non-humans alike.
framework to investigate how
the urban process has radically
transformed previous spatial
concepts, thus creating new
spaces for action, but also new
disciplinary responsibilities and → P. 284

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Gabriela Degetau Zander

Mona VijayKumar
SMArchS Candidates ¶ Urbanism ¶ 4.163 J / 11.332 J Options Studio: The Power of Design and the Design
of Power: Equitable Urban Typologies Challenge ¶ Critics: Rafi Segal, Alan Berger

“a solution
The Co-mmune is conceived as a vision, instead of
and looks to create livable urban commons
where people—Co-Live, Co-Work and Co-Grow. It
envisions to promote an urban environment where
communities have access to shared facilities and
services that are equitable and inclusive, which are
spatially articulated on our site.
”

Top: The Co-mmune brings equity by integrating people

based and placed based strategies. Left: The project
houses social spaces and shared utilities for the residents
and extended community. Opposite Top: The section
reflects the pockets of spatial and visual connectivity
that fosters interaction and livability. Opposite Bottom:
By taking informed discussions from the urban fabric, the
project connects the site by weaving through objects,
networks, and voids.

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h_shi+xuanlan+jiyeha
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Huiwen Shi
Xuan Lan
Ji Ye Ha
SMArchS Urbanism Candidates + MArch Candidate ¶ 4.163 J / 11.332 J The Power of Design and the
Design of Power: Equitable Urban Typologies Challenge ¶ Critics: Rafi Segal, Alan Berger

“in Byvarious
studying the relationship of power and space
contexts, the project eventually attempts
Bottom: Section of selected housing development block.
Opposite Top: Bird's-eye view of the GROW system.
Opposite Bottom: Inner courtyard of GROW community.
to design an equitable housing and development
strategy for Roxbury, Boston.
”

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jprac+lrau
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Jariyaporn Prachasartta
Lasse Rau
SMArchS Candidates ¶ Urbanism ¶ 4.163 J / 11.332 J Options Studio: The Power of Design and the Design
of Power: Equitable Urban Typologies Challenge ¶ Critics: Rafi Segal, Alan Berger

“ Non-Coherent Field Planning ¶ Through

a speculative provocation for a variation on
conventional urban plans that introduces spatial
actors and breaks up the hegemonic coherence of
the site, an equitable urban project emerges. An
urban project that provides many people with the
opportunities to shape the public realm, that is, the

”
field.

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Kuang-Chun Lo
SMArchS Candidate ¶ Urbanism ¶ 4.163 J / 11.332 J Options Studio: The Power of Design and the Design of
Power: Equitable Urban Typologies Challenge ¶ Critics: Rafi Segal, Alan Berger

Top: Buffalo Bayou is an important element of Houston.

This mapping strives to reveal the vulnerability of the city
such as flooding, pollution, and poverty by following the
river. Left: This project aims to dismantle the history and
power of Taipei through the urban fabric outside the Civic
Center and relationships within the city walls. Opposite:
Terracescape. To a certain extent, a single terrace is an
elevated shared platform, which acts as an intermediate
space connecting indoor and outdoor, public and private
spaces. On the other hand, when this architectural element
expands to the urban scale, it becomes a system that
address urban relationships and redefines heights, inside
and outside, and connectivity. Thus, spatially, Terracescape
could be an equitable urban form which re-configures
spatial and social relationships.

280
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xuziyu+chenyf
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Ziyu Xu
Yufei Chen
MArch Candidate + SMArchS Urbanism Candidate ¶ 4.163 J / 11.332 J Options Studio: The Power of Design
and the Design of Power: Equitable Urban Typologies Challenge ¶ Critics: Rafi Segal, Alan Berger

“overview
Roxbury Public Housing: Field of Equity ¶ An
of Roxbury’s housing typology reveals
Bottom: Small private courtyard. The smallest courtyards
are assembled by single family housing modules. These
courtyards are owned or used privately and are located at
the difference in accessibility to public resources
the boundary of the site, further from the central public
and open space. Residential neighborhoods are spaces when compared to the large courtyard. Opposite:
segregated and clustered by type and housing Large shared courtyard. Large courtyards are shared by
rate. Adjacent to important public resources, such units that has a mix of ownership types. The smallest units
as schools and metro stations, our site offers an are arranged on the ground floor to ensure there are more
door-to-courtyard benefits. Whereas the upper floor is
opportunity for a more equal typology in response
arranged with larger units. Within these large units, there
to the dis-connectivity between dwelling and urban are features such as multiple small private bathrooms
experience. ¶ In order to achieve a more equal rather than one large shared bathroom to provide flexibility
framework, our response is to create a continuous for collective living. The large courtyard also ensures the
low-rise housing fabric integrated with a mix of possibility for increasing density.
housing types and service programs. We aim for a
dynamic play of solid and voids to break the rigidity
of standardized public housing development and try
to achieve equal and diverse dwelling experience.
”

282
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283
gdegetau
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Gabriela Degetau Zanders

SMArchS Candidate ¶ Urbanism ¶ 4.228 Contemporary Urbanism Proseminar: Theory and Representation
¶ Critic: Roi Salgueiro Barrio

“ofThe research investigates the current condition
oil extraction and the spatial transformations
occurring in the Ecuadorian Amazon, which are
related to the philosophy and the political discourse
of ''El Buen Vivir'' stated in the constitution. The
''Comunidades del Milenio'' project is taken as a
case study to further understand the implications in
the region.
” government as a sign of modernity and progress.
Below: The concept of “El Buen Vivir,” has been dissolved
by the political rhetoric and high oil demands from the
Chinese government. Opposite Top: There is an urgent
requirement for a new model. Establishing a preventive
framework that understands that oil wells are not eternal
or infinite and looking into strategies to produce long term
social and environmental benefits. Opposite Below: The
investigation, questions the modern city's imposition and
the urban planning process promoted by the Ecuadorian

284
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285
h_shi
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Huiwen Shi
SMArchS Candidate ¶ Urbanism ¶ 4.228 Contemporary Urbanism Proseminar: Theory and Representation
¶ Critic: Roi Salgueiro Barrio

“ofThis research intends to dissect Brazilian’s history

palm oil as ecological restoration. Approaching
from history and the view of different stakeholders,
especially the farmers, the analysis of the power
struggles demonstrates the problematic past
and uncertain future of the hinterland based on
Top: The modernity in palm plantations hides the
heavy dependence on manual labor during planting
and harvesting. Opposite Top: The nature of the hybrid
economic selection of palm trees brings in efficiency and
vulnerability for the locals. The casualty and benefited of
this trade-off is the instability of the hinterland. Opposite
Bottom: The unique mixture forms a pixelated texture

”
agricultural territories in a globalized economy. of new urbanity in rurality. The sustainable challenge
constantly evolves economy and environment, locality and
connectivity.

286
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287
lrau
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Lasse Rau
SMArchS Candidate ¶ Urbanism ¶ 4.228 Contemporary Urbanism Proseminar: Theory and Representation
¶ Critic: Roi Salgueiro Barrio

“a story
Episodes in Landscape Compression ¶ This is
about time. It studies the Carbfix project
of carbon dioxide removal and underground
sequestration in Hellisheiði, Southern Iceland, moving
beyond the surface of its activities. It asks: how
does the compression of a landscape contribute
to the search for temporal references in uncertain
climates?
”

288
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289
mengqiao
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Mengqiao Zhao
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.228 Contemporary Urbanism Proseminar: Theory and Representation
¶ Critic: Roi Salgueiro Barrio

“Repository
An Analysis of Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste
¶ This project focuses on a U.S. case
study by analyzing whether Yucca Mountain is an
ideal geological repository site. It is a topic related
to technology, geography, ecology, and politics.
The impacts of nuclear waste management range
from a single human body, to the cities we live in, to
the entire country. This process and its influences
are also related to time, ranging from the almost
negligible nuclear reaction time to the whole nuclear
waste decay period, which lasts more than 10,000
years.
”

290
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291
monavjay
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Mona VijayKumar
SMArchS Candidate ¶ Urbanism ¶ 4.228 Contemporary Urbanism Proseminar: Theory and Representation
¶ Critic: Roi Salgueiro Barrio

“between
Landscape as a Record focuses on the relationship
humans and the ephemeral landscapes
they constitute. Overtime the relation encompasses
an enduring significance as vital forms of cultural
landscapes. But in the current period of industrial
capitalism and the exploitation of resources—ecology
and labor, the notion of 'cultural landscapes' have
become widely contested?
”

Left Top: The stark contrast between those who consume

salt and those who are consumed by salt highlights the
state of exception for salt workers who exist at the nexus
between the politically qualified life and the life exposed to
death. Left Bottom: The research attempts to investigate
cultural landscapes-Little Rann of Kutch in India, through
the lenses of labor, ecology, politics, production, and
care. It documents and examines a region that is largely
characterized by erasure, temporality, and movement,
but that at the same time it is regarded as an indigenous
landscape of cultivation with a strong cultural dimension.
Opposite Top: The Agariyas are caught in the cracks of
a geographic surface, forced to negotiate their survival
between the land and the water. Opposite Bottom: The
dynamics of landscape possess a unique challenge where
the Agariyas relocate and search for new regions for salt
cultivation at the beginning of every cycle. These are
peculiar landscapes that are occupied and sculpted by
people but can never be acquired.

292
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293
randylo
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Kuang-Chun Lo
SMArchS Candidate ¶ Urbanism ¶ 4.228 Contemporary Urbanism Proseminar: Theory and Representation
¶ Critic: Roi Salgueiro Barrio

294
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
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“technologies
Mining represents the power of human
and putative ''ecological'' creation of
landscape. The staggering rate of digital devices
and electronics in our modern society has resulted
in astronomical growth in critical mineral resources,
especially cobalt. Democratic Republic of the Congo
produces 60% of global cobalt resources which
outproduces other countries by the amount of
productions and reserves.
”

295
sammay
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Sam May
MArch Candidate ¶ 4.228 Contemporary Urbanism Proseminar: Theory and Representation
¶ Critic: Roi Salgueiro Barrio

“Westland,
Dissecting Westland ¶ This project analyzes
Netherlands as existing urban territory.
Westland sits within both the theoretical and built
traditions of agrarian urbanism.
”

296
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism Undergraduate
4.210 4.228 4s.13 4.THG

297
xuanlan
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.151 4.153 4.154 4.163J

Xuan Lan
SMArchS Candidate ¶ Urbanism ¶ 4.228 Contemporary Urbanism Proseminar: Theory and Representation
¶ Critic: Roi Salgueiro Barrio

“Chinese
This thesis takes a critical investigation of the
bounded superblock—one of the most
rapid urban expansion modes—and reviews its
origin and evolution. Shanghai is selected as the
specific case study to reveal an evolved theme
bounded superblock mode in the suburbs, which
increased segregation in urbanization after the
commodification of housing. Pujiang New Town,
as the critical site, shows the multi-dimensional
intervention of bounded superblocks on its spatial
and social structure, and detailly reveals the
sprawling conditions. This thesis also explores
the emerging digital trade platforms as a possible
Above: Pujiang Gated Community. Digital Connections
and Physical Social Interaction. These virtual platforms
from different businesses developed their own service
stations, warehouses, supermarkets, and so on around
the community and set up own logistics and public
transportation system, including delivery riders, trucks
and shuttle buses. Opposite Top: Pujiang New Town.
Increasing Spatial and Social Segregation. In 2000, The
municipal government of Shanghai aimed at adopting
an Italian-style townscape to the enclosed Pujiang New
Town. Opposite Bottom: ''One City Nine Towns'' policy

”
(World City Vision) was announced by the Shanghai
catalysts for a new kind of urbanity.
government in 2000 to introduce exotic townscape styles
from major European countries to its suburban regions.

298
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299
UG
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.021 4.022 4.023 4.025
The Department of Architecture offers two undergraduate majors
providing a deep and broad undergraduate education in the fields of
architecture, art and design. Course 4 leads to the Bachelor of Science in
Architecture, and Course 4-B leads to the Bachelor of Science in Art and
Design.

4.021
Design Studio: How
This course introduces
fundamental design principles
as a way to demystify design
to Design ¶ Critics: and provide a basic introduction
Course 4 Undergraduate

Skylar Tibbits, Marlena to all aspects of the process. It

Fauer ¶ TA: Dimitrios
Chatzinikolis
Selected Course Descriptions
stimulates creativity, abstract
thinking, representation, iteration,
and design development and
develops students’ abilities to
apply the foundations of design
to any discipline. This semester’s
How to Design embraced making

from home, as students conducted

material tests and built prototypes
from paper and found materials.
Project 1 asked the students
to design and fabricate light
enclosures from paper. Project
2 asked the students to select
something unusual to measure
and create their own measuring
'devices'.
→P. 303

4.022
Introduction to Design
Introduces the tools, techniques
and technologies of design
across a range of projects in a
Techniques and studio environment. Explores
Technologies ¶ Critics: concepts related to form, function,
Axel Kilian ¶ TA: Nare materials, tools, and physical
Filiposyan environments through project-
based assignments. Develops
familiarity with design process,
critical observation, and the
translation of design concepts into
digital and physical reality. Utilizing
traditional and contemporary
techniques and tools, faculty
across various design disciplines
expose students to a unique cross-
section of inquiry. Limited to 25;
preference to Course 4 and 4B

300
 Computation Architecture + Urbanism
4.031 4.051 4.053
majors, Design and Architecture
minors, and first- and second-year
students. ¶ The 4.022 studio in
the fall was adapted to support
students working remotely,
where the students prototyped
physical interactive enclosures for
one person. With the help of the
department's fabrication shops,
electronics and tool packages were
sent to every student in order to
support the prototyping aspects
of the studio. The students
experimented with a range of
4.023
Architecture Design
Elementary Studio -- delves into
the design of public elementary
schools to discuss hope during
Studio I ¶ Critics: Miho turbulent times—and, at the same
Mazereeuw ¶ TA: Joel time, exploring and emphasizing
Austin Cunningham the need for change. We will be
asking questions such as: How can
we employ design as our toolkit for
change? Who is impacted and how
do we develop design empathy?
Students will be encouraged to
choose significant topics such as
climate change and/or cultural
diversity and explore them through
the lens of tactile, playful, multi-
scalar, multi-sensory heuristic
education. Learning from and
engaging with practitioners and
scholars such as Thaddeus Miles
(Photographer and Community
4.025
Architecture Design
This is a studio for upper-level
Course 4 undergraduates and
provides instruction in advanced
Studio III ¶ Critics: architectural design. Students
Michael Stradley ¶ develop integrated design skills
TA: Juan Luo as they negotiate the complex
issues of program, site, and form
in a specific cultural context. The
Fall 2020 iteration of 4.025 takes
color as its central architectural
protagonist. The question of
color in architecture extends far
Course 4 Undergraduate
Other
easily available materials for their
constructs, including cardboard,
fabric, bottles, and even a few pair
of socks. In the final presentation
the enclosures came to life using
various actuation approaches such
as pneumatic, servos, LED's, and
motors. Different strategies were
deployed by students to develop
the character of their enclosure
and its relationship to the human
inhabitant.
→P. 310
Leader/Activist), Ceasar
McDowell (Participatory Action
Research/Community Activist and
Practitioner), Edwidge Danticat
(Award winning Author) and Erin
Genia (Researcher and Practicing
Artist), students will explore timely
and critical discussions through
photography, art, planning and
writing. Readings from educational
philosophers such as John Dewey,
Loris Malaguzzi, Maria Montessori
and environmental education
such as David Orr, will be paired
with guest elementary school
teachers to inform student project
proposals.
→P. 314
beyond the purely formal and the
aesthetic -- color is inseparable
from questions of personal and
group identity, representation,
materiality, access, commerce, and
politics. The studio will collectively
wrestle with these questions
through discussion, a series of
collage exercises, a sequence of
2D-turned-3D-turned-animation
studies, and ultimately through
architectural proposals which
301
UG
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.021 4.022 4.023 4.025
(4.025 continued) consider (and transform) the
social, cultural, and architectural
character of the MIT Campus. →P. 316

This course is an overview of a kit of basic materials and tools to

4.031
Design Studio: Objects
and Interaction ¶ Critic:
Marcelo Coelho ¶ TA:
Rui Wang
design as the giving of form, order,
and interactivity to the objects that
define our daily life. The course
follows the path from project to
interactive product, covering the
overall design process, preparing
students for work in a hands-on
studio environment, and providing
a foundation in prototyping skills
such as carpentry, analog and
digital fabrication, electronics,
and coding. ¶ Topics include the
analysis of objects; interaction
design and user experience; design
methodologies, current dialogues
in design; economies of scale vs.
means; and the role of technology
in design. ¶ For the Fall 2020,
students developed two functional
objects—a lamp and a clock—that
they were able use in their daily
lives. Students were provided with
accomplish their projects, which
could be equally realized remotely
at home or in-person on campus.
¶ These apparently simple objects
served as a lens for learning
about industrial design history,
the design process, conceptual
development, and critique. In
addition, students learned basic
carpentry skills, folding as a
fabrication technique, CAD,
electronics, coding, etc which help
prepare them for future industrial
design work in a professional
environment.
→P. 318

4.051
The Human Factor in
Innovation and Design
Strategy ¶ Critic: Lee
Moreau ¶ TA: Yaara Yacoby
The Human Factor in Innovation
and Design Strategy will
expose students to the core
practitioners, thinkers, and
business leaders explain how
they approach design challenges,
methodologies used in human- and how design brings value to
centered design with a focus human experiences and to the
on understanding how it can contemporary marketplace.
be applied to solve real-world
challenges. In the course,
students will hear leading design →P. 320

4.053
Visual Communication
Fundamentals ¶ Critic:
Bo-won Keum ¶ TA: Emma
Pfeiffer
Provides an introduction to visual
communication, emphasizing
the development of a visual and
develop their ability to analyze,
discuss and critique their work and
the work of the designed world.
verbal vocabulary. Presents the
fundamentals of line, shape, color,
composition, visual hierarchy,
word/image relationships and
typography as building blocks
for communicating with clarity,
emotion, and meaning. Students →P. 323

302
 acnwigwe, agatta
Computation Architecture + Urbanism Course 4 Undergraduate
4.031 4.051 4.053 Other

Alexandra Nwigwe
Undergraduate ¶ 4.021 Design Studio: How to Design ¶ Critics: Skylar Tibbits, Marlena Fauer

“theCircle of Light ¶ This project is meant to engage

user in a closed loop system in which the
light is turned on by unwinding the woven light
enclosure and transforming it back into thread on a
spool which can then be used to build up the light
enclosure again.
”

Audrey Gatta
Undergraduate ¶ 4.021 Design Studio: How to Design ¶ Critics: Skylar Tibbits, Marlena Fauer

“explored
For our project of designing a light enclosure, I
the use of static electricity to change the
light intensity. My enclosure was created using
paper shreds and a balloon. The user would be
able to interact with the light by forming static
electricity on the surface of the balloon, leading to

”
the desired intensity of light.

303
aseguin, danaru
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.021 4.022 4.023 4.025

Alexander Seguin
Undergraduate ¶ 4.021 Design Studio: How to Design ¶ Critics: Skylar Tibbits, Marlena Fauer

“Produces
Pinhole camera to measure the sun’s movement.
grid-imprinted images that can be used to
measure the earth’s rotation relative to the sun.
”

Dana Rubin
Undergraduate ¶ 4.021 Design Studio: How to Design ¶ Critics: Skylar Tibbits, Marlena Fauer

“asymmetry.
My project goal was to measure beautiful
Symmetry became a part of the beauty
standard; there are many plastic treatments that
aim to 'fix' asymmetry. My project critics this
objective and exemplifies the fact that we are all
asymmetric.
”

304
 dianeli, faithj
Computation Architecture + Urbanism Course 4 Undergraduate
4.031 4.051 4.053 Other

Diane Li
Undergraduate ¶ 4.021 Design Studio: How to Design ¶ Critics: Skylar Tibbits, Marlena Fauer

“toConstructive Vibrations ¶ A tabletop device

visualize the progression and accumulation of
vibrations in a ''constructive'' way. The precipitation
reaction between sodium hydroxide and copper
sulfate solutions produces gel-like droplets. The size
of the droplets relate to vibration magnitude and the

”
color relates to time.

Faith Jones
Undergraduate ¶ 4.021 Design Studio: How to Design ¶ Critics: Skylar Tibbits, Marlena Fauer

“measures
The Extent of a Stretch ¶ This wearable device
how far a person can stretch qualitatively.
The greater the stretch, the more color the device
reveals.
”

305
hquinn, ivyw
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.021 4.022 4.023 4.025

Hailey Quinn
Undergraduate ¶ 4.021 Design Studio: How to Design ¶ Critics: Skylar Tibbits, Marlena Fauer

“a physical
Tempo ¶ This project aims to use tempo to create
representation of music. The device’s user
taps a pedal in time with the music, punching holes in
a moving strip of paper. A string is threaded through
these holes to create loops whose sizes correspond
to the song’s tempo.
”

Ivy Wang
Undergraduate ¶ 4.021 Design Studio: How to Design ¶ Critics: Skylar Tibbits, Marlena Fauer

“it’sAshard
virtual connections and video calls take over,
to separate work from downtime. It’s
even harder to check in consistently with friends
and acquaintances. This vellum book, with pages
activated by water-based ink, helps users check
in with themselves and keep track of their mental
wellbeing over time.
”

306
 kchen52, kzareno
Computation Architecture + Urbanism Course 4 Undergraduate
4.031 4.051 4.053 Other

Karen Chen
Undergraduate ¶ 4.021 Design Studio: How to Design ¶ Critics: Skylar Tibbits, Marlena Fauer

“diagrams
Orange Peel Packaging ¶ These images and
show a measuring device titled Reduce,
Reuse, Repackage. This bag/packaging is made
from orange peels (nature’s packaging of the
fruit), which reduces food waste and synthetic
packaging, and also indicates to users when they are
overconsuming or overpurchasing.
”

Kaitlin Zareno
Undergraduate ¶ 4.021 Design Studio: How to Design ¶ Critics: Skylar Tibbits, Marlena Fauer

“sustained
Deep Breathing aims to measure and model
lung capacity. This project looks into the
act of breathing over an extended period of time by
measuring the ability of the lungs to fill the chamber
of the inflatable and modeling this ability through the
inflatable’s deflated form.
”

307
nbase, prajtm
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.021 4.022 4.023 4.025

Nathan Basinger
Undergraduate ¶ 4.021 Design Studio: How to Design ¶ Critics: Skylar Tibbits, Marlena Fauer

“andLight has numerous properties that effect health

wellness. Life is often filled with stressors
and externalities that constantly seek attention.
This project aims to provide peace and escape
by separating oneself from external stresses and
introducing light. In effect, creating a personal light
sanctuary.
”

Prajwal Tumkur Mahesh

Undergraduate ¶ 4.021 Design Studio: How to Design ¶ Critics: Skylar Tibbits, Marlena Fauer

“climate
A tool for visualizing the projected effects of
change. The device uses falling water,
siphons, and tubes to draw a visual and tangible
relationship between global temperature, sea level
rise, risk to biodiversity, flooding in major cities, sea
ice extent, and atmospheric CO2 concentration if
climate-change is left unchecked.
”

308
 sangitav, terryk
Computation Architecture + Urbanism Course 4 Undergraduate
4.031 4.051 4.053 Other

Sangita Vasikaran
Undergraduate ¶ 4.021 Design Studio: How to Design ¶ Critics: Skylar Tibbits, Marlena Fauer

“fitAsyourI Grow ¶ A cradle-to-grave lamp that grows to

personal lighting needs throughout your life,
made out of structural and bioluminescent fungi.
”

Terry Kang
Undergraduate ¶ 4.021 Design Studio: How to Design ¶ Critics: Skylar Tibbits, Marlena Fauer

“onAthemask made of malleable wires that when worn

face, would physically prevent access from
hands reaching the face. The user would have to
physically move the wires. In this the mask can
record when and how the user touches their face.
”

309
xtinakim, emmakr
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.021 4.022 4.023 4.025

Christina Kim
Undergraduate ¶ 4.021 Design Studio: How to Design ¶ Critics: Skylar Tibbits, Marlena Fauer

“forSelective Binding introduces a simple mechanism

manipulating a paper template to produce
customizable designs for decorative, 'do-it-yourself',
light enclosures. With few required materials, a
user-friendly fabrication process, and endless
possibilities for enclosure designs, the project
encourages personalization and inspires reiteration
while making design accessible to anyone of any
experience.
”

Emma Rutherford
Undergraduate ¶ 4.022 Introduction to Design Techniques and Technologies ¶ Critic: Axel Kilian

“a versatile
My project aimed to create
enclosure from the
inversion of a solid shape by
making strategic cuts and using
pneumatic actuation to make it
expand.
”

310
 evasmere, kmcpher
Computation Architecture + Urbanism Course 4 Undergraduate
4.031 4.051 4.053 Other

Eva Smerekanych
Undergraduate ¶ 4.022 Introduction to Design Techniques and Technologies ¶ Critic: Axel Kilian

“which
A dynamic enclosure made of rotating columns
responds to and choreographs the movement
of a body by creating and destroying regions of
negative space.
”

Kimberly McPherson
Undergraduate ¶ 4.022 Introduction to Design Techniques and Technologies ¶ Critic: Axel Kilian

“enclosure
This project’s concept is an oversized suit
that senses the user’s actions within the
suit and displays them on the outside. It examines the
relationship we all have with the clothing we wear,
and how we interact with the space made by this
everyday enclosure.
”

311
ktoye, nguyeng
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.021 4.022 4.023 4.025

Katherine Toye
Undergraduate ¶ 4.022 Introduction to Design Techniques and Technologies ¶ Critic: Axel Kilian

“andReeding Nature ¶ Using local, natural material

shapes to create an enclosure, Reeding Nature
connects users to the surrounding nature and light.
When a person is inside and enough light is detected
to create shadows, end pieces turn towards each
other creating a hyperbolic shape.
”

Gary Nguyen
Undergraduate ¶ 4.022 Introduction to Design Techniques and Technologies ¶ Critic: Axel Kilian

“single-use
Inspired by the imagery of marine life trapped in
plastics, the Bottle of Awareness is an
enclosure constructed to replicate the experience at
a human-level scale. Formed using recycled bottles,
the membrane is integrated with circuitry that
enhances the experience via acoustics mimicking

”
the 'littering' of plastic.

312
 sandrali, stangs
Computation Architecture + Urbanism Course 4 Undergraduate
4.031 4.051 4.053 Other

Sandra Li
Undergraduate ¶ 4.022 Introduction to Design Techniques and Technologies ¶ Critic: Axel Kilian

“inhabitable
This project involves the development of an
micro-enclosure with an interactive
element. Iris creates a safe-space or haven that
protects whoever or whatever is housed inside by
opening and closing a window. A person can identify
unoccupied enclosures and inhabit them while
also having the freedom to move around with the
enclosure they have claimed.
”

Sandra Tang
Undergraduate ¶ 4.022 Introduction to Design Techniques and Technologies ¶ Critic: Axel Kilian

“thisSensory deprivation meets rocking chairs in

multipurpose, interactive rocking chair pillow,
featuring a motion-triggered auto-adjusting
curvature to ensure the user’s safety. The calm,
repetitive motion combined with a dimmed
enclosure provides a new perceived environment
while using very little space—a quality useful for
quarantine, napping, and thinking.
”

313
mtimmon2, nateich
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.021 4.022 4.023 4.025

Meghan Timmons
Undergraduate ¶ 4.023 Architecture Design Studio I ¶ Critics: Miho Mazereeuw, Cherie Miot Abbanat

“elementary
EssHouse argues for the reconceptualization of
schools as providers of the fundamental
resources necessary for students, families, and their
greater community to thrive, and offers a variant
iteration of the elementary school archetype.
”

Nicole Teichner
Undergraduate ¶ 4.023 Architecture Design Studio I ¶ Critics: Miho Mazereeuw, Cherie Miot Abbanat

“Richmond,
Friendly Elementary, located just outside
Virginia, maximizes green space for
school-wide gatherings and individual discovery of
the surrounding environment. The school allows for
immersion with the outside from directly inside the
classroom while also creating safe, private spaces

”
for children to learn.

314
 ninahutt, sli6
Computation Architecture + Urbanism Course 4 Undergraduate
4.031 4.051 4.053 Other

Nina Huttemann
Undergraduate ¶ 4.023 Architecture Design Studio I ¶ Critics: Miho Mazereeuw, Cherie Miot Abbanat

“save
We know that we’re not likely to do much to
anything that we do not love. ¶ Situated
along a trail next to Indian Creek in Hood River, OR,
this school will augment existing local efforts to
heal the riparian landscape while instilling values of
environmental conservation in its students.
”

Stephanie Li
Undergraduate ¶ 4.023 Architecture Design Studio I ¶ Critics: Miho Mazereeuw, Cherie Miot Abbanat

“intended
Situated on the border between Chinatown and the rest of Boston, this school is
to connect the two communities. Building a school in this location will allow
students from a diverse set of backgrounds to study and grow together, promoting greater
cultural awareness.
”
315
cyang21, dnlee
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.021 4.022 4.023 4.025

Catherine Yang
Undergraduate ¶ 4.025 Architecture Design Studio III ¶ Critic: Michael Stradley

“reinvigorate
The New Walker ¶ The project aims to
the Walker Memorial at MIT campus, by
cutting through and adding structures to the site in
two ways. The diagonal glass encasing bisects the
existing building;. It not only creates an underground
passage extending outward to the courtyard closely,
but also remaps the existing programs in Walker.
The metallic bubble devours the building’s top right
corner, and introduces new floors and lookouts into
Walker and to the campus.
”

Dong Nyung Lee

Undergraduate ¶ 4.025 Architecture Design Studio III ¶ Critic: Michael Stradley

“between
This project aims to construct relationships
landscape and architectural characters of
the MIT campus by referring to the geological forms
of erosion, aperture, and density studied in the
earlier exercises of sequential collage drawings and

”
digital structure visualizations.

316
 jhsrao, jschen
Computation Architecture + Urbanism Course 4 Undergraduate
4.031 4.051 4.053 Other

John Rao
Undergraduate ¶ 4.025 Architecture Design Studio III ¶ Critic: Michael Stradley

“three
This final project proposal is consisted of
'parasitic' volumes. A public art gallery
space employs the existing banquet hall as its
only entrance and acts as an extension of MIT’s
unique subterranean tunnel network. Two towers
that house residential and pedagogical spaces
respectively are latched on the external facades of
existing buildings nearby. By submerging the most
public program underground and placing the most
private programs six stories above ground, this
project also proposes a new relationship with the
public. The formal language of the project is driven
by a set of logics developed in the earlier collages
and sculptural exploration while the color of each
surface is dictated by the topography of the artificial
landscape.
”

Jacqueline Chen
Undergraduate ¶ 4.025 Architecture Design Studio III ¶ Critic: Michael Stradley

“waterfront,
In pursuit of increasing engagement with the
the project takes advantage of the
existing sailing pavilion to attract new audiences.
The tower, whose form takes on a collage of simple
geometries and translucent and reflective materials,
partners itself with a community of artists to exhibit
and promote the arts.
”

317
pipitone, avilam
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.021 4.022 4.023 4.025

Vanessa Pipitone
Undergraduate ¶ 4.025 Architecture Design Studio III ¶ Critic: Michael Stradley

Mariana Avila
Undergraduate ¶ 4.031 Design Studio: Objects and Interaction ¶ Critic: Marcelo Coelho

“inspired
Made Whole is an Enzo Mari and Vera Molnar
lamp symbolizing how our imperfections
lead to growth. The incomplete cubes are balanced
to support the complete cube on top. Light shines
from the complete cube downward, illuminating and
emphasizing the beauty of the path it took to get
there.
”

318
 jennyz, layal
Computation Architecture + Urbanism Course 4 Undergraduate
4.031 4.051 4.053 Other

Jenny Zhang
Undergraduate ¶ 4.031 Design Studio: Objects and Interaction ¶ Critic: Marcelo Coelho

“cyclical
Endless exemplifies the unwavering passing and
nature of time. ¶ A spiral staircase sends a
marble down to the bottom of the clock. The user
has to continuously turn a knob to push the marble
back up, only for it to quickly roll all the way down
again. ¶ The rhythmic tap, tap, tap of the marble
rolling down the stairs, the calming mechanical brrrr
that rewards you for your efforts, the user can take
in these sounds to relax and reflect on their version
of the meaning behind this task.
”

Layal Barakat
Undergraduate ¶ 4.031 Design Studio: Objects and Interaction ¶ Critic: Marcelo Coelho

“times
Pendronome ¶ It’s often said that the good
feel like they fly by, while the bad times feel
like they’ll never end. Pendronome is an interactive
double pendulum, with the pendulums’ speeds
controlled by two dials. With Pendronome, you can
set the tempo of your life for whatever mood you’re
feeling.
”

319
morogers, ashleywa
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.021 4.022 4.023 4.025

Marina Rogers
Undergraduate ¶ 4.031 Design Studio: Objects and Interaction ¶ Critic: Marcelo Coelho

“canThetellWatcher ¶ Looking into someone’s eyes, you

if they are beginning their day or ending it.
The Watcher mimics this human representation
of time, waking and then growing tired as the day
progresses. It serves as a gentle reminder of how
our bodies react to the passing of time.
”

Ashley Wang
Undergraduate ¶ 4.051 The Human Factor in Innovation and Design Strategy ¶ Critic: Lee Moreau

“music,
An Interview Debrief through categories of
current times, virtual events, and life
events.
”

320
 davidezh, melody_w+crate
Computation Architecture + Urbanism Course 4 Undergraduate
4.031 4.051 4.053 Other

Davide Zhang
Undergraduate ¶ 4.051 The Human Factor in Innovation and Design Strategy ¶ Critic: Lee Moreau

“designs
HeartSync is a set of experience
that seek to improve the
emotional connection between
the performer and the audience
in the age of social distancing.
The experience is comprised of a
smart wristband that collects and
transports heart rate information,
an on-site projection, and a mobile
or web application.
”

Melody Wu
Clare Liu
Undergraduate ¶ 4.051 The Human Factor in Innovation and Design Strategy ¶ Critic: Lee Moreau

“performance
We presented Uconnectome, a virtual live
experience across digital and physical
boundaries, connecting concertgoers and artists
through lightsticks, which create a synced live
performance experience. The lights beat along to
the music or respond to signals from the artist and
from the audience.
”

321
oparsons+ihinkley+jsonner+zroberts, xiangyug
Art Culture Technology History Theory Criticism Building Technology
4.021 4.022 4.023 4.025

Olivia Parsons
Ian Hinkley
Jessica Sonner
Zachary Roberts
Undergraduates ¶ 4.051 The Human Factor in Innovation and Design Strategy ¶ Critic: Lee Moreau

“in During the past semester, Fall 2020, the students

'The Human Factor in Innovation and Design
Strategy' worked to design a solution for the Live Carrier 9:41 AM 42% Carrier 9:41 AM 42%

Performance Industry. With the Rockland Bank Trust Welcome!

Pavilion as our client, we split into teams to create a
systemic solution for the pavilion while adhering to
the new COVID-19 requirements and lifestyle.
”
Check In!

Checked In!

Xiangyu Guo
Undergraduate ¶ 4.051 The Human Factor in Innovation and Design Strategy ¶ Critic: Lee Moreau

“forThe project is an immersive experience design

online live performance featuring Co-
creating,connection and collective memory. The
scene can be automatically updated according
to the music. The audience can interact with
the singer, environment, and other audiences.
Meanwhile the interactions of the audience
contribute the key elements to this immersive
environment.
”

322
 wendy528
Computation Architecture + Urbanism Course 4 Undergraduate
4.031 4.051 4.053 Other

Wendy Wu
Undergraduate ¶ 4.053 Visual Communication Fundamentals ¶ Critic: Jennifer Ashman

“Drills
Kids will be Kids: Military
Performance ¶ Date: 2010,
Fourth Grade ¶ Location: Yucai
Second Primary School ¶ Dress
Code: Camo Uniform ¶ Stories
of choreographed school-wide
events showcasing uniformity,
told in moments of youthful

”
individuality.

323
 This is not an
exhaustive list of
student group
initiatives or
organizations at the
MIT Department of
Architecture. Inclusion
in Imprint resulted
from an ArchAll open
call.
Student Groups

324
ASC → P. 326

NOMAS → P. 328

Film Series → P. 330

out of frame → P. 332

Group Project → P. 336

CSA+P → P. 338

Roofscapes → P. 340

325
 Architecture
Student Council
Dear MIT Architecture,

We took on the role of ASC co-chairs in January 2020, right before the world felt as if
it were collapsing on our shoulders, but only to rebuild itself. It has been a running joke
that we felt like we were watching history in the making: that every minute seemed to
mark itself as one of the most important minutes of our lives. We suddenly went from co-
chairs to a risk management team, and finally in the summer of 2020, we witnessed the
strength and voice of our architecture community in its most rooted form. It is here that
we want to pause and reflect.

¶ It doesn’t seem like a year ago that we shared

a phone call discussing the possibility of joining
the Architecture Student Council. Jon was
in Colombia, Ginevra was in Rome, and the
realities of MIT seemed far away. To start, our
conversations were abstract, lofty even. Anyone
who has had the pleasure of a long conversation
with Ginevra knows that ontological questions
arise sooner rather than later. Our aspirations
were to continue the legacies of Eytan, Nare,
and Ben’s resolute student advocacy and to
bring student work and thought to the forefront
by means of lectures, publications, and student
platforms. However, our first task was to figure
out, with the generous help of the previous
semester’s Happy Hour crew, how much beer,
wine, and pizza to order for our regular Friday
evening gatherings in Long Lounge. With our
grand plans still in our head, it seemed that much
of our time day to day was spent coordinating
student initiatives

with Amanda on the department’s lecture series

and Keller gallery openings and events. As we
all remember, our to-do lists and calendars were
abruptly truncated and suddenly our work had
much less to do with happy hour snacks and more
to do with a stress test of our community that was
built over Friday beers. ¶ We recently were asked
what it was like to be part of ASC and NOMAS
efforts in the summer, specifically regarding

326
the sequence of town halls highlighting students'
requests. Jon's answers went right to the heart of it :
we had a minor role. It was the very clear and pointed
requests that students and recent alumni wrote that
allowed for and sparked a constructive conversation.
We are thankful for all that students, staff and faculty
have pushed ASC to pursue. Of course, there have
been several moments where we felt unequipped to
engage conversations and situations, at which point
we turned to Nicholas and Andreea’s advice, both
of whom have become mentors. Additionally, we
have particular gratitude for the ASC Cabinet who
rose to the occasion being conduits and advocates
for each and every one of us; it was not a small task
to undertake. ¶ We understand that we still have a
lot of work ahead of us: as a society, as an institute,
and as a department. Yet we are hopeful that, if we
keep reflecting, communicating and finding solutions
together, we will be able to achieve whatever goals we
set for ourselves as a community.

ASC Cabinet:
Aidan Flynn, SMArchS
Amanda Ugorji, MArch

With love,
Athina Papadopoulou, PhD
Carol-Anne Rodrigues, MArch
Daniel Landez, BSA
Demi Fang, PhD
Ibuki Iwasaki, BSAD

Jonathon Brearley
Katherine Kettner, MArch/MCP
Latifa Alkhayat, MArch
Mohamad Nahle, SMArchS

Ginevra D’Agostino Norhan Bayomi, PhD

Rania Kaadan, SMArchS
Samuel Dubois, PhD
ASC Co-Chairs Stephanie Li, BSA
Xio Alvarez, MArch/MCP
Emma (Yimeng) Zhu, SMACT
Catherine Yang, BSAD

327
 National Organization
of Minority Architects
(NOMAS)
Do the Work: Demands for
Action and Accountability
in the MIT Department of
Architecture
''Despite years of calls for change, whiteness
remains the neutral background against which
narrow visions of merit, education, and community
are valorized at MIT and the Department of
Architecture ...we need far more commitment from
much more of our community. We continue to
ask—what’s next? ¶ We as students and leaders
in NOMAS can only do so much as we push for an
actively anti-racist department and attempt to make
architecture engaged with the lives and experiences
of BIPOC communities... we can only host so many
conversations, workshops, wikipedia edit-a-thons,
and lectures. Without this work, itself an act of
self-preservation, we struggle to see any place for
ourselves as part of this community and discipline.
But who in the Department would be doing this work
Text and images courtesy
student initiatives
of MIT NOMAS. The
text is an excerpt of a
letter written to the MIT
Department of Architecture
on August 2020.
328
otherwise? Whose burden would this be?
¶ The current conversation in the department clearly
imagines the responsibility for this work falling
on NOMAS members and our preexisting allies.
Many members of our faculty community have
consequently avoided personal responsibility. Where
is your town hall? Where is your collective letter?
Where are your workshops? Where is your solidarity
with us? ¶ As we begin a new academic year, we see
this letter as an opportunity to express our resistance
against a return to normal... ¶ The faculty must
recognize themselves as a body accountable for the
production and perpetuation of culture within this
department. You all have the responsibility to enact
the demands below. We do not want your token
gestures of support. We want your actual, practiced
commitment to self-work. We want your time, energy,
and expertise. ¶ You as faculty have individual and
collective power, so use it. Trust is earned; you need
to act.''
NOMAS MIT
August 28, 2020
nomas-exec@mit.edu • nomas.mit.edu
329
 Cinema and
Architectural Imagination

A Series of
Conversations on the
Intersections of Film
and Architecture
Never mere settings, the spaces in which cinematic stories take place
have the capacity to invoke, represent, convey, and reinforce narratives.
As spaces and landscapes intertwine with stories and actors, they
make the tales of the world we know visible, and those of worlds we can
only imagine possible and real.

Cinema and Architectural Imagination is a student-led series of

conversations about the various ways in which the imagination of the
built environment, architecture, landscape, and urban environments is
mediated through film. Throughout the Fall 2020 semester, students,
faculty and alumni of the MIT Department of Architecture came
together in a series of virtual public discussions and explored films from
various genres, periods, geographies, and cultures, and the power of
architectural imagination within the world of moving images. Each film
was chosen by one presenter, together with the director of the series.
Presenters recorded a video introduction, while the films were made
available for the MIT community, and were followed by a public Zoom
discussion with the presenters, the Film Series organizers, and the
public.
student initiatives

330
For the first iteration of the series we presented and discussed four Sergei Eisenstein
films. The series was launched with Julie Dash’s 1991 path-breaking Sequence
Diagram for
film, Daughters of the Dust, which was presented by MArch Candidate
Aleksander
Jola Idowu, and included a discussion about landscape stewardship, Nevsky (1939)
domesticity, cultural heritage and memory on the background of the
Great Migration. Galo Canizers, an alum of the MArch program and
a lecturer at the Texas Tech College of Architecture, presented Terry
Gilliam’s 1985 film, Brazil, and led a conversation about the deep
interiors of architectural systems, infrastructure, and the imagination
of dystopian futures. Professor Arindam Dutta and PhD candidate Iheb
Guermazi, both from the History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture
and Art Program, joined in conversation about Gillo Pontecorvo’s
powerful reenactment the Algerian struggle for independence in
his 1966 Battle of Algiers, and discussed the representation of the
post-colonial city, as well as questions of politics, religion, and gender
representation. The series concluded with Building Technology
PhD candidate Mohamed Ismail presenting Ryan Coogler’s 2017
Black Panther, and a conversation about race and representation,
afrofuturism, and the productivity of alternative forms of fiction in
architectural imagination.

Creative Director: Eliyahu Keller, PhD Candidate

Film Series Assistant: James Brice, MArch Candidate
331
 Out of Frame
Dear Reader,
One of the silver linings of this last year has been sitting up late, tea in hand, crackers and cheese on the side
table as I read through the out of frame posts of the week. The array of interests and variety of voices, some
familiar and some new, captivated my attention and never failed to teach me something new. Observations
on street furniture around the block changed the way I noticed the benches in my neighborhood. The vivid
description of a test kitchen in Chicago inspired me to listen to a new podcast that highlighted untouched
and unknown architectural gems. I was fascinated by a recipe on how to grow one’s own leather-textured bio-
material, and another on how the co-creation of rugelach among peers revealed different cultural perspectives.
Other noteworthy topics included a discussion on urbanism through Seoul’s curbside plants and thoughts on
architectural decay through the language of cheese, just to name a few. My careful weekly readings turned into
a collection of fragmented understandings that began impacting my thoughts as I moved through the city and
reflected on my own work and interests.

¶ Out of frame is a platform by students
and for students that grew out of the need
to share thoughts with one another—it was
developed to voice our interests, ideas, hopes,
and grievances. It was co-founded by MArch
students April Gao and Ginevra D’Agostino
and supported by the MIT Department of
Architecture in response to the disconnect and
hopelessness we often felt over the summer
months of 2020. We were drained and
restless, numbed from hundreds of hours of
virtual calls and devastated by the racism and
news of tragic events reaching our hand-held
devices from all over the world. ¶ We needed
a space to process the whirlwind by sharing
with a community we felt close to, free of
typical academic expectations and constraints.
We wanted to produce work that was raw,
accessible, provocative, and perhaps a bit
student initiatives
beginning of fall and have ever since found myself
continuously humbled and challenged as I catch
glimpses of the world through others’ eyes. The
platform has started conversations and brought
people together in ways I could never have
imagined. I am always learning from and being
moved by the thoughtful yet emphatic voices that
make up the work we share. Writing, for many of
us, can be a way to make sense of the world and
explore our place in it. Like drawing and making,
it is a way to discover new ideas and to find what
drives us. It gives us the space to sit with a topic
long enough to ruminate over it and to ask the
hard questions.¶ I am encouraged by how out of
frame has carved an online space for creativity
and community with dedicated engagement from
columnists and readers. So, I urge you to dive
into the work, and if you are a student, to pick up
your pen [or keyboard] and join us in our quest

messy. We wanted to talk about the histories, for growth and discovery through the sharing of
processes, and narratives existing within and stories.
around us. There was a deep need to connect
during a time when we felt lonely and isolated
from one another. Through out of frame, we
came together to share the forgotten stories
that make up who we are, what we do, and Yours truly,
what we care about. ¶ My experience with
out of frame has been extremely rewarding.
I stepped into my role as editor at the
Ana McIntosh
2020-2021 “out of frame” Editor
332

Contributors
Contributors include those with a full
body of work on outofframe.mit.edu.
Marianna González-Cervantes / WIP-ish shares
multiple works-in-progress that don’t necessarily have
obvious ends but are considered “work” nonetheless by
focusing primarily on process methodologies.
Rebecca Slater / The Lonely Glove Phenomenon. A
four part series dissecting the complex relationship
between lost gloves and humans.
Yiou Wang / Dangerous Circuit Board. Contemplative
travels through space, art, culture, society and human
imagination.
Danny Griffin / To Be Automated. When is a job
worth automating? Reflections and speculations from
automating jobs.
Carolyn Tam / Material Future. A collection of projects
with newly engineered material composites, as well as
unique application that can be achieved through the use
of other materials.
Xio Alvarez / Out of Space. “What are we really
talking about when we talk about “public”? What is
public anyway? What guidelines do we follow when
we design “public” spaces? And who are they for?”
Charlotte Matthai / The Rind. This column delves
into the complex architecture and systems of and
related to cheese.
Self / Work is an extended group exercise.
Participants spend time with each other’s work
in a process that favors reflection and curiosity,
and where the personal is a site and source of
knowledge.
Daniela Beltrame / Stand in a Sentence. Portraits
of alternative urban planning through the embodied
experience of women from self-organized urban
poor communities..
Mohamad Nahleh and Meriam Soltan / The South
Our Parents Told Us About. This column narrates
the shared histories and experiences of the authors
embodied by the architecture of South Lebanon.
Yaara Yacoby / The Food Between Us. In this
column, the author’s food space is shared, drawing
parallels with memories and histories, as well as
thoughts and experiments on space creation and
online connection with food as a medium.
James Brice / Open-Source is a project to
showcase and share knowledge, with emphasis on
methodologies and techniques gained from outside
the canon of architectural education—a love letter
to messy layer organization, model scraps, and the
things that inspire students.
333
 Out of Frame
“Maybe it was a personal
thing, but it took me a long
time to realize that it wasn’t
necessarily just me,”
by Self / Work
Self / Work is
an extended
group exercise.
Participants
spend time with
each other’s work
in a process that
favors reflection
A: “I feel like in most of the studio experiences I’ve had there’s
a large disconnect between what you’re going for, and the
feedback you get. They just don’t know what I’m doing, which
and curiosity,
and where the I think is partly my fault because it’s my job to represent it
personal is a accurately.”
site and source
of knowledge.

B:
It is a platform “When you approach design, it is subjective and it is about
to anonymously
how you personally understand the problem at hand. Obviously
share process,
dispatched in we’re all going to struggle. Regardless of whether we can or
fragments of cannot solve the problem, there’s going to be a struggle. That
dialogue, as if is just the process of design, but I think that sometimes when
overheard. I thought that I was doing architecture ‘wrong,’ it was in large
part due to a critic that didn’t know how to guide me or that
was specifically trying to make me approach the problem that
the way they would—and, like my brain doesn’t work that way.¶
Maybe it was like a personal thing, but it took me a long time
to realize that it wasn’t necessarily just me—it was also like my
critic. We didn’t click...”
student initiatives

B: “Already, ‘not knowing’ how to do architecture and then in addition to that, having
a critic, that doesn’t understand me, and that I don’t see eye to eye with is like…It’s
both of our faults. ¶ I really like the fact that there’s a class that is like kind of built
around the assumption that you are right. You do know what you’re doing and you
know how to best how to guide your own work. This is a community built around
that, around the assumption the work you make is ‘right’ and the rest of us need to
understand your goals, not ‘fix’ the work.”

334
 Excerpted works
previously
published in
outofframe.

“The Food Between Us,”

by Yaara Yacoby
Yaara Yacoby: “You decided to embark on an exploration of what you call your
‘existential anxiety’ around your identity as an Israeli Jew living abroad. Where did
this come from originally?”

In this self YY: “Well, it emerged from a tension I was feeling

conducted out of growing up away from a community I’ve
interview, the
always been taught is of the most importance—
author reflects on
the food space my family. I struggled to put together all the
she constructed different elements that made up my sense of
across her posts, identity because I couldn’t find a space to occupy
drawing parallels and inhabit. I felt more like an observer. This
with memories
disconnection was exacerbated when I moved
and histories, as
well as sharing out of my parent’s home and realized I value
her experiments observing holidays to a greater extent than them
of space creation and felt disconnected from any structure of
and online identity-making. So I was compelled to find a way
connection using
to anchor myself if that makes sense, and make a
food as a medium.
space that included me as well.”

Yaara Yacoby: “Yes, that does make sense. In many ways, I relate. So as part of this
exploration, you started with maps and calendars and ended up in recipes. Could you
say a bit more about food? Why food?”

YY: “That’s a good question, one I haven’t really

thought through before. I started by mapping
my family’s roots, documenting established and
constructed histories as well as traditions and
practices. This was an act of context-making, in a
way. Why food? That interest likely started from a
reflection on the traditions of observing holidays
with my family. Since we are not particularly
spiritual, the ritual itself centers around symbolic
foods. It was a way of starting to answer the
question ‘how do I practice identity’?”

335
 Group Project

Group Project is an architectural design and planning collective that

was formed in 2017 by students at MIT’s School of Architecture and
Planning. Today, it comprises current students, recent graduates, and
its founding members, now practicing architects and planners. Group
Project collaborates primarily with community-based organizations on
adaptive reuse projects with a social justice orientation. Their mission,
Below: Porch broadly speaking, is to work together with underserved communities
swing prototype in the US as a means to address the systemic socio-political issues
developed in
that underlie much of the country’s built environment. Deeply
a community
design charrette committed to the notion of architecture as a right and long-term
with Growing community engagement throughout the design process, their practice
Change (2018). brings equitable access to design to the fore, towards a sensitive and
Opposite Above, incremental model of work. ¶ Initially structured around a collaboration
Opposite Middle:
with GrowingChange, a nonprofit based in rural Scotland County,
Wagram Site,
North Carolina. North Carolina, the Group Project team undertook ongoing work on
Opposite, Far the transformation of a decommissioned prison into an agricultural
Right: Signage community center. Together with GrowingChange’s youth leadership
Installation. and local community stakeholders, they have operated at multiple
Opposite Bottom:
scales: from site planning and long-term visioning, to design-build
Alex Bodkin and
Youth Leader intensives, to a county-wide research project and report for the
(2019). Architectural League of New York’s American Roundtable initiative.
student initiatives

336
More recently, Group Project has expanded their
network to communities beyond North Carolina,
working with artist Zeelie Brown in Lowndes County,
Alabama (in collaboration with MIT student group
NOMAS), on the problem of rural sanitation and
the culturally-referent and contextually appropriate
design of outhouses. They continue to seek projects
local to their members in the Northeast.

2020 Contributors
Morgan Augillard, MCP Alum ‘19
Alex Bodkin, MArch Alum ‘19
Jonathon Brearley, MArch ‘22
Isadora Dannin, MArch ‘21
Jola Idowu, MArch ‘23
Kailin Jones, MArch ‘21
Joey Swerdlin, MArch Alum ‘19
Emily Wissemann, MArch ‘23

337
CHINA SA+P
Student Association

The MIT CHINA SA+P Student Association is a Members:

student-led organization that aims to serve MIT’s Zhifei Xu, MArch
School of Architecture and Planning and the school- Kailin Jones, MArch
wide community at large to establish bridges with Chloe Yun Wang, MArch
the market, industry, and public in China on topics Stewart Haotian Wu, MArch
pertaining to the different areas of research and Ziyuan (Zoey) Zhu, SMArchS
studies within the school: Architecture; Urban Emma (Yimeng) Zhu, SMACT
Studies and Planning; Art; Culture and Technology; Catherine Yang, BSA
Real Estate, and Media Arts and Sciences. Daisy Ziyan Zhang, MArch
Mackinley Wang-Xu, MArch
Jacqueline Chen, BSA
Yanjun Liu, BSA
Mengke Wu, IDM
Yuqing Zhang, MFin
Wa Liu, SMACT
Charles Wu, SMarchS
Isabel Waitz, BSA

Left: Poster of
MIT CSAP X
student initiatives

Harvard GSD
Mixer in Shanghai
Below: Practice In
China Interview
series.

338
Hacking Chengdu: Urban
Gamification by Zhifei Xu and
Thaddeus Lee applies the strategies
of urban gamification to address ghost
city issues in China. Taking Luxelakes
as our experimental grounds, this
is a series of interactive add-on
installations for A7 hotel island. It
aims to invigorate communal spaces,
encouraging interactions among
visitors and transforming public places
into shared, participatory forums and
playgrounds.

Little Luxelakers by Yun Wang and

Yi Yang focuses on the importance
of ‘environment-based education’ by
combining design with technology,
encouraging play and exploration,
while enabling children to interact with
the living and non-living world. The
research takes Luxelakes
Eco-City as a practice field, and
designs the community greenspace as
an active research site that adopts an
environment-based education plan.

Hacking Chengdu’s Biodiversity—to

Design a More ‘Livable Garden’ City
at Luxelakes by Eve Allen focuses
on biodiversity, while introducing the
concept of ‘novel ecosystem’ and
‘civic ecology’. The Patch-Corridor-
Matrix landscape model, divides the
project into three practical stages: 1)
education and ecological survey, 2)
introduction of species and 3) the
establishment of community-led
inventorying and monitoring system.”

339
Roofscapes
In 2020, MIT Architecture students Eytan Levi (MArch ‘21 + MSRED
‘21), Tim Cousin (MArch ‘23), and Olivier Faber (MArch ‘23) launched
Roofscapes at DesignX, MIT SA+P’s venture incubator focused on the
built environment. Roofscapes’ mission consists in creating accessible
green roofs over mansard roofs in European city centers, as a way to
mitigate the urban heat island effect, provide new outdoor spaces in Below: Pilot
cities, and support food production and biodiversity in urban settings. green roof in
¶ Throughout the fall of 2020, Roofscapes was selected by the City Paris. Opposite
Top: Samples of
of Paris’ laboratory for urban experimentation to deploy and monitor ongoing projects.
a pilot project in Paris over 2021-2022. Roofscapes was also picked Opposite Below:
to build a pavilion at the 2021 Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Roofscapes
Urbanism to display its vision for urban resilience at the roof level. pavilion for the
2021 Seoul
Biennale of
Architecture and
Urbanism. All
images courtesy
of Roofscapes.
student initiatives

340
The Roofscapes 2020 Team
Jonathon Brearley, MArch ‘22
Tim Cousin, MArch ‘23
Olivier Faber, MArch ‘23
Nina Huttemann, BSA ‘23
Eytan Levi, MArch ‘21 + MSRED ‘21
Caroline Rosenzweig, BSA ‘20
Eva Then, BSc ‘22
Isabel Waitz, BSA ‘23

341
Acknowledgments
Administration Jose Luis Arguello
Kathaleen Brearley
Stacy Clemons
Marissa Friedman
Doug Le Vie
Inala Locke
Tonya Miller
Amanda Moore
Andreea O’Connell

Archiving Team James Brice Archiving Support by

Jonathon Brearley
Danny Griffin
Teaching Assitants
Matthew Harrington
Duncan Kincaid
Eytan Levi Taylor Boes
Amanda Moore Jonathon Brearley
Anna Vasileiou Dimitrios Chatzinikolis
Ellen Wood Charlotte D’Acierno
Zhicheng Xu Nare Filiposyan
Laura Maria Gonzalez
Danny Griffin
James Heard
Mark Anthony Hernandez-Cornejo
Rania Kaadan
Communications Ana McIntosh
Amanda Moore
Kimball Regli Kaiser
Melika Konjicanin
Team Angie Door
Eytan Levi
Carol-Anne Rodrigues
Xuan Luo
Ellen Wood
Christopher Moyer
James Brice
Mohamad Nahleh
Daisy Ziyan Zhang
Emma Pfeiffer
Qianqian Wan
Rui Wang
Emily Wissemann
Jaehun Woo
Guest Speakers Laura Allen
Alex Fialho
Zhicheng Xu
Yaara Yacoby
Kamilah Foreman
Tina Henderson
Melissa Levin
Eddie Opara
342
 Imprint 01
Creative Support This publication would not have been possible
without the support of all of you. Thank you to
from Summer Nicholas de Monchaux for your vision, persistence
Workshop and and trust. Thank you Amanda Moore for your

Fall Course intimate understanding of the Department and for

all the thoughtful edits. Thank you Miko McGinty
Participants for being an endless source of knowledge and
constantly laughing along with us over Zoom.
Arditha Auriyane
Zachariah DeGiulio Thank you to everyone who participated in the
Patricia Dueñas Gerritsen making of this book. This process began in a
Demi Fang 2020 Summer Workshop taught by Nicholas de
Natasha Hirt Monchaux, Amanda Moore and Miko McGinty
Emma Jurczynski and continued into the fall course,“Building the
Vijay Rajkumar Page.” (See P. 242-247) Together the editorial
Carol-Anne Rodrigues team and students engaged the mechanics and
Olivia Serra skills of print publication—typography, grids,
Alice Jia Li Song formats and distribution strategy—in order to
Lavender Tessmer frame essential strategic questions about audience,
Alexandra Lea Waller tone, and material. Conversations between
Edward Wang students, professors, staff and guest speakers
Emily Wissemann shaped the following guiding principles: First, this
Zhicheng Xu publication should be about the students. Second,
Daisy Ziyan Zhang this publication should publish material from
Mengqiao Zhao every student who responds to an open call. We
Emma (Yimeng) Zhu are grateful to everyone who laid the conceptual
groundwork for this publication and we hope that we
did your ideas justice.

Lastly, thank you to everyone who contributed work

and put up with our endless emails. This publication
would not exist without your commitment—whether
it be to research, making or writing—throughout the
entire semester. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Editorial Team
Patricia Dueñas Gerritsen
Carol-Anne Rodrigues
Alice Jia Li Song
Emily Wissemann

343
Faculty + Staff 2020
This publication, this semester and this community is
indebted to the tireless work of the faculty and staff.
Thank you for loading the printers, for fielding our
questions about CovidPass, health insurance, jobs and
student Visas. Thank you for buying us Creative Cloud.
Thank you for meeting with us across time zones. Thank
you for paying attention. Thanks for letting us into your
living rooms. Thank you for all the work we don’t see and
for consistently supporting us.

Department Head Nicholas de Monchaux

Architecture and Cherie Abbanat Robert Mohr

Lorena Bello Lee Moreau
Urbanism Brandon Clifford Michael Murphy
Marcelo Coelho Miko McGinty
Michael Dennis William O’Brien Jr.
Christopher Dewart Cristina Parreño Alonso
Rami el Samahy Paul Pettigrew
Marlena Fauer Roi Salgueiro Barrio
Antonio Furgiuele Adèle Naudé Santos
Deborah Garcia Hashim Sarkis
Antón García-Abril Susanne Schindler
Rania Ghosn Andrew Scott
Reinhard Goethert Rafi Segal
Mark Goulthorpe Rosalyne Shieh
Christoph Guberan Marc Simmons
Mariana Ibañez Anne Whiston Spirn
Jeremy Jih Michael Stradley
Zain Karsan Hans Tursack
Sheila Kennedy Anna Vasileiou
Bo-Won Keum
Axel Kilian
Miho Mazereeuw
Ana Miljački

Art Culture and Azra Akšamija Nida Sinnokrot

Lara Baladi Rasa Smite
Technology Judith Barry Raitis Smits
Mario Caro Gediminas Urbonas
Lisa Crafts
Georgie Friedman
Renée Green
Marisa Morån Jahn
Jesal Kapadia
Tobias Putrih
344
 Darren Bennett
Staff Renée Caso
Eduardo Gonzalez
Gina Halabi
Jim Harrington
Matthew Harrington
Duncan Kincaid
Douglas Le Vie
Tonya Miller
Amanda Moore
Andreea O’Connell
Alan Reyes
Cynthia Stewart

Building John E. Fernández

Architecture
Leon Glicksman
Technology Caitlin Mueller and Urbanism
Les Norford Eleni Aktypi
John Ochsendorf Christopher Jenkins
Christoph Reinhart
Art Culture and
Technology
Marion Cunningham
Marissa Friedman
Mikaela Joyce
Kevin McLellan
Computation Terry Knight
Nina Palisano
Takehiko Nagakura
John Steiner
Lawrence Sass
Thera Webb
George Stiny
Graham Yeager
Skylar Tibbits
Cagri Hakan Zaman
Building Technology
Stacy Clemons

Computation
History Theory and Stanford Anderson (In Memoriam)
Inala Locke
Arindam Dutta
Criticism David H. Friedman (Emeritus)
Timothy Hyde History Theory
Lauren Jacobi and Criticism
Mark Jarzombek José Luis Argüello
Caroline A Jones Kathaleen Brearley
Nasser Rabbat Eliana AbuHamdi Murchie
Kristel Smentek
Jessica Varner

Fabrication Jennifer O’Brien

Christopher B Dewart
Zain Karsan
Shah Paul

345
346
Photo: Oliver Faber
Below: December 15, 2020 12:12 PM

Opposite: January 25, 2020 3:47 PM

Photo: Emily Wissemann
347
Subject: Submit your work to the Department Publication!
To: arch-all@mit.edu
Cc: arch-pub@mit.edu
Date: Dec 17, 2020, 3:17pm

Dear students,

The Department is putting together a print publication and wants to

feature your work!

As a student in the department, you will have one page where you are
invited to share what you’ve been working on this fall semester. Here’s how
to participate:

Choose your content:

Please identify up to 5 (five) files (text or image: resolution 2000
px min) that you wish to be represented by on your single page of the
department publication.

Send us your materials by January 3, 2021:

Please place your files (image files must include a corresponding text file
with a project description of 50 words) into a dropbox or wetransfer and
send it to the publications team arch-pub@mit.edu.

Text file/s should include your name, any associated course number and
name, the names of any team members if it was a group project. If needed
to understand the images, please also include captions up to 8 words for
each file.

To learn more about the publication and what the publications team has
planned, see this FAQ:
https://architecture.mit.edu/news/faq-our-new-department-publication

We hope you will contribute!

The MIT Architecture Publications Team

arch-pub@mit.edu
MIT Architecture

2020