Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Crossing (Architecture)'

Thesis: S.M. in Architecture Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2018.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages [132]-135).
Views of long-term environmental change often rely on linear narratives of growth and decline. Last chance sites have been described as offering a limited window of time to witness landscapes and seascapes that are deemed to exist within varying states of vanishing, captivating audiences with visible and timely sights of change. This thesis questions the agency of representing the future of these sites and calls for a strategy to look beyond end conditions to link less visible cycles with the roles of surrounding industry. On the coast of Hudson Bay, the self-declared "polar bear capital of the world" is discussed in relation to last chance sites due to an industry that has become reliant on visitors observing the changing environmental attractions of the area. This project examines how the northern town of Churchill, Manitoba developed at an intersection of migration between far reaching industrial and ecological systems. To the north the Arctic is opening with decreasing sea ice, and to the south an infrastructural rail line spurred the transformation of territory from a geographically concentrated urban population. Conceived of as a linear northern expansion project for future growth, the reality over time is a nonlinear emergence and decline of economic pursuits. The design strategy resists focusing on short-term development models by bringing public attention and cyclical activity to a broader territory. New linkages negotiate scattered and fluctuating industries such as forestry, mining, and energy production that support urban growth and a regional strategy focuses attention on overlooked sites, offering platforms to locate discourse on the role of development in longterm change across systems.
by Monica Hutton.
S.M. in Architecture Studies

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1992.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 145-148).
Common to all people is some degree of intuition into aspects of the natural physical laws by which we are bound to The earth. To a large degree This intuitive sensitivity is grounded in our visual registration of the horizon and in The inescapable rooting of ourselves and our structures in gravity. Whether we realize it or not, in some capacity we continually experience, either physically or visually, aspects of These natural structural phenomenon. Ultimately, the subconscious and sometimes conscious registration of These observations and experiences, provides an intuitive basis by which we interpret and understand structure and form. While observing architecture, we both intuitively and rationally respond to The expression of structure within the design. Depending on The extent of structural expression and clarity, we may consequently respond at a rational or conscious level, interpreting meaning in The structure and The design. At These points, where The structure transcends its fundamental purpose of resolving the gravitational forces to The ground, the structure expresses The ideas and spirits driving The design. It is my contention that through a clear understanding of the qualities and intentions of the design, and Attention structural consideration and attention to detail at an intuitive level, structure can ultimately be interpreted and understood at an intuitive level. As a means of exploring this subject, I have selected this design of a Light Rail Station as the project, primarily due to the dominant structural requirements of rail stations in general.
by David L. Gipstein.
M.Arch.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1997.
Vita.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-69).
Viable communities are those which are in balance -- residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial interests work together to provide for each other. In an urban neighborhood, these elements can be brought closer together. This was the traditional pattern at the turn of the century. In many cities today, however, the opposite is often true. Commutes from home to work and home to shopping are commonplace. As a result, areas become mostly daytime or nighttime as businesses and industry are condensed away from residential neighborhoods. I propose to reintegrate these disparate sectors into an urban community which re-establishes a balance among those interests and provides opportunities for the local citizens. A hybrid industrial facility can be the community focus and benefactor in a symbiotic relationship. The community of Roxbury Crossing / Mission Hill is investigated to analyze opportunities, access needs, and develop an urban scheme to encourage the mixing of homes with workplaces to provide a sustainable infrastructure for the community. At the architectural scale, the building addresses concerns for creating a sustainable building. Issues of transportation, adaptability, durability, and climate are investigated and explored in the form. A brewery, the traditional industry from this neighborhood's history, is proposed as a model for the prototype client.
by Christian MacQuarrie Klein.
M.Arch.

Includes bibliographical references.
A point in Voortrekker Road was intensified by creating a halting place at an underdeveloped and important crossing in the central area of the Voortrekker Road Corridor, in Parow. Connectivity within the business centre of Parow is enhanced by the railway lines that run parallel to Voortrekker Road to the north and south - providing multiple access to public transport. The station enables a pedestrian network that extends far beyond its reach. This network is currently a very popular informal trading area. Trade is focused within a narrow strip, called Station Arcade, a pedestrian link from Voortrekker Road to the station. The area to the north of Voortrekker Road lacks the vibrant activity, generated within the commercial zone to the south. A reason for this is the strip of parking lots behind Voortrekker Road that create a buffer zone between the commercial strip and the residential area to the north. At the moment this transitional space adjacent to Voortrekker Road is ill defined and lacks activity. At night, these spaces become vulnerable areas and unsafe zones due to the gang activity and crime within the area. Due to the many tertiary institutions within the central part of the Voortrekker Road Corridor and a lack of student residences, a campus framework was introduced which proposes the development of student residences along a recreational spine. This framework was focused around key strategies to satisfy students’ accommodation needs. The junction between Voortrekker Road and Station Arcade serves as a significant point of crossing within the campus precinct and the location of my site. By locating a central function at this point within the campus, the existing link to the station is reinforced and a gateway to the new recreational spine behind Voortrekker Road is introduced. The Student Exchange building, located at this important nexus, will assist in creating shared facilities that can provide academic and social support to students in the area.

Lines are everywhere and as humans we produce lines all the time. In this project I used the line as a method, a metaphor, and a material to explore what are the elements that influence and condition the way we move and behave around different spaces. Lines can be read as many things and for this project I choose to work with lines that could be understood as boundaries and limits. How do we deal with lines in our everyday life? How do lines and bodies influence each other? How is the space choreographed and experienced according to the boundaries that exist in it?   However not all boundaries are made of matter. In fact, some of them are invisible and manifest as prohibitions, regulations, prejudice, or just cultural norms. These limits can also be understood as non-matter lines that have an impact on one's experiences. Through several explorations, the project proposes an installation that seeks to embody the spatial boundaries that cannot always be seen. Using light and sound as catalyzers for these experiences, the installation is a reflection on what happens when we meet those invisible lines, how they have the power to change our usual path and to make us move differently around a space.

The aim of this dissertation was to research, through a comparative architectural analysis,whether the two urban districts Camden Town in north London and Greater Grand Crossing in south Chicago have or have not been gentrified and, if so, what kind of gentrification process they have gone through. The study was based on three questions: what buildings have been transformed in each area? How have the buildings been transformed? Have the functionsof the city districts been transformed with any particular focus in mind? The study found that Camden Town has been tourist gentrified, since the primary focus of the gentrification process was towards tourism and entertainment businesses where old Victorian, industrial buildings were transformed into venues for live music, shops and markets. In the case of Greater Grand Crossing however, it is not possible to establish that the area has been gentrified. Chicagoan artist Theaster Gates transformed several residential houses as part of a project, some of which remained residential, and some were made into spaces for cultural activities. However, the focus of the transformation was towards the already existing population and not towards potential gentrifiers.

Thesis (M.Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2003.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-103).
The growth and identity of urban open space is a vital issue facing our cities today. The development and revitalization of old industrial centers in the United States has prompted urban transformations in usage, densification and demographics. These shifting neighborhoods call for a reconsideration of the makeup and syntax of their associated green spaces. The design of this urban landscape is not currently positioned to take advantage of limited spatial opportunities while meeting increasingly diverse programmatic needs. Traditional park typologies must respond to contemporary forces, varying leisure practices and allow for new interactions with an evolving city. This thesis posits a new model for parks and their architecture within changing urban neighborhoods. It explores how parks can accommodate these transformations through the topics of imbedded infrastructure, flexibility, prototyping and merging public and private usage. It seeks to create more humane and vital open spaces by adding functional and diversified occupations that respond to specific contextual requirements. This thesis looks to understand how both the landscape and its built architecture can work together to become a more viable model for the next century.
Scott Marshall Cyphers.
M.Arch.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1998.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-74).
How do you define a place? This thesis has been an exploration in giving form to the many forces which come together and give a place a particular character. It is about providing an alternative to the usual public place markers of civic monuments such as town halls and churches, and instead allowing the architectural form to grow out of the existing forces These forces are in constant interaction with each other and the world around them: public and private, water and land, new and old , interior and exterior, movement, light and use. I have set out to develop those zones shared by these things crossing over one another, focusing primarily on the building edges where public and private intersect.
by Melanie B. Coo.
M.Arch.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1997.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-94).
Often spaces that are simply left open, un-built or essentially residual are termed "public space." An alternative attitude toward public territory might be that it is actually generated and does not simply exist. It is generated by an aggregation of different semi public and private uses and the zone that is common or shared can be recognized as public space. A sense of "publicness" is earned by the interaction and intersection of the inhabitants and users from the surrounding functions. Rather than being empty or an undefined space, it is the crossroads for a wide variety of citizens. The functions or uses that define this territory should range from very public to private--public transit nodes, to retail, to office, to housing, it is precisely the resulting zone of exchange that enables and encourages community and city identity to develop. A large cross-section of the cities population can see, hear, meet-- know about one another and ultimately the choice to interact, or not, is provided. These qualities are essential to the health and livelihood of city and its inhabitants. The project used to explore building public space is a public transit node or transfer station, which insures a constant and active population. The station has additional programmatic elements of a public market facility, restaurants, "single room occupancy" hotel, and office space. The juxtaposition of these components situated in a densely urban setting will attempt to generate public territory, community growth and the bubbling up of new life in a disenfranchised part of the urban fabric.
by Paul Joseph Dreher.
M.Arch.

This thesis shows the advantages of simple models for analysis of railway operation. It presents two tools for infrastructure and timetable planning. It shows how the infrastructure can be analysed through fictive line designs, how the timetable can be treated as a variable and how delays can be used as performance measures. The thesis also gives examples of analyses of complex traffic situations through simulation experiments. Infrastructure configuration, timetable design and delays play important roles in the competitiveness of railway transportation. This is especially true on single-track lines where the run times and other timetable related parameters are severely restricted by crossings (train meetings). The first half of this thesis focuses on the crossing time, i.e. the time loss that occurs in crossing situations. A simplified analytical model, SAMFOST, has been developed to calculate the crossing time as a function of infrastructure configuration, vehicle properties, timetable and delays for two crossing trains. Three measures of timetable flexibility are proposed and they can be used to evaluate how infrastructure configuration, vehicle properties, punctuality etc affect possibilities to alter the timetable. Double-track lines operated with mixed traffic show properties similar to those of single-tracks. In this case overtakings imply scheduled delays as well as risk of delay propagation. Two different methods are applied for analysis of double-tracks: a combinatorial, mathematical model (TVEM) and simulation experiments. TVEM, Timetable Variant Evaluation Model, is a generic model that systematically generates and evaluates timetable variants. This method is especially useful for mixed traffic operation where the impact of the timetable is considerable. TVEM may also be used for evaluation of different infrastructure designs. Analyses performed in TVEM show that the impact on capacity from the infrastructure increases with speed differences and frequency of service for the passenger trains, whereas the impact of the timetable is strongest when the speed differences are low and/or the frequency of passenger services is low. Simulation experiments were performed to take delays and perturbations into account. A simulation model was set up in the micro simulation tool RailSys and calibrated against real operational data. The calibrated model was used for multi-factor analysis through experiments where infrastructure, timetable and perturbation factors were varied according to an experimental design and evaluated through response surface methods. The additional delay was used as response variable. Timetable factors, such as frequency of high-speed services and freight train speed, turned out to be of great importance for the additional delay, whereas some of the perturbation factors, i.e. entry delays, only showed a minor impact. The infrastructure factor, distance between overtaking stations, showed complex relationships with several interactions, principally with timetable factors.
QC20100622
Framtida infrastruktur och kvalitet i tågföring

La qualité de communication dans un réseau sans fil est déterminée par la qualité du signal, et plus précisément par le rapport signal à interférence et bruit. Cela pousse chaque récepteur à se connecter à l'émetteur qui lui donne la meilleure qualité du signal. Nous utilisons la géométrie stochastique et la théorie des extrêmes pour obtenir la distribution de la meilleure qualité du signal, ainsi que celles de interférence et du maximum des puissances reçues. Nous mettons en évidence comment la singularité de la fonction d'affaiblissement modifie leurs comportements. Nous nous intéressons ensuite au comportement temporel des signaux radios en étudiant le franchissement de seuils par un processus stationnaire X (t). Nous démontrons que l'intervalle de temps que X (t) passe au-dessus d'un seuil γ → −∞ suit une distribution exponentielle, et obtenons 'egalement des r'esultats caract'erisant des franchissements par X (t) de plusieurs seuils adjacents. Ces r'esultats sont ensuite appliqu'es 'a la gestion de mobilit'e dans les r'eseaux cellulaires. Notre travail se concentre sur la fonction de 'handover measurement'. Nous identifions la meilleure cellule voisine lors d'un handover. Cette fonction joue un rôle central sur expérience perçue par l'utilisateur. Mais elle demande une coopération entre divers mécanismes de contrôle et reste une question difficile. Nous traitons ce problème en proposant des approches analytiques pour les réseaux émergents de types macro et pico cellulaires, ainsi qu'une approche d'auto- optimisation pour les listes de voisinage utilisées dans les réseaux cellulaires actuels.

The border crossing bridges that connect Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua to El Paso, Texas are among the most dynamic public spaces in the city. While people wait to cross, they work and play, buy and sell, watch and perform. The bridge is one instance where la linea becomes thick enough and where crossing becomes slow enough to reveal the border's true nature as an ephemeral and expansive transition zone. This thesis documents several architectural and urban elements that exist on the border---fences, bridges, maquiladoras, colonias---with an interest in better understanding the transition zone. It then focuses on a historically disputed territory in Ciudad Juarez and El Paso as a laboratory for the redeployment of these elements, exploring ways of capitalizing on the urban possibilities in between.