Nomads of light : a housing paradigm for the North
Thesis: M. Arch., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2016.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103474 |
| _version_ | 1826191247983771648 |
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| author | Li, Hui, M. Arch. Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| author2 | Azra Aksamija. |
| author_facet | Azra Aksamija. Li, Hui, M. Arch. Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| author_sort | Li, Hui, M. Arch. Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis: M. Arch., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2016. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:53:16Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/103474 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:53:16Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1034742019-04-10T19:34:10Z Nomads of light : a housing paradigm for the North Housing paradigm for the North Li, Hui, M. Arch. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Azra Aksamija. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture. Architecture. Thesis: M. Arch., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2016. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 106-107). Life in the North has changed dramatically in the past 60 years. Nomadic people of North have been forced to settle down into permanent housing since 1950s. Imported Euro- Canadian single-family housing replaced vernacular nomadic housing. Arctic is and will be undergoing even more dramatic influences from the south due to oil exploitation and recently opened Northwest Passage. Will the North be overwhelmed with South way of thinking through globalization? What is the proper housing paradigm for life in the North? A nomadic lifestyle and light are the most important two factors for life in the North. Not a nomadic people chasing food resources anymore, nomadic lifestyle of moving around within a smaller community is still important in terms of sharing economy and community identity. There have been two modes of housing in the North: Inuit winter igloo and Euro-Canadian housing. For Inuit igloos, different chambers are not constrained to a particular program or particular family; people wander around and utilize different chambers in one's own way. According to anthropologist Peter Dawson, contemporary Inuit has transformed Euro-Canadian housing model to fit their nomadic lifestyle. North light determines the way people live and creates geographical identity. On one hand, winter light is so scarce that people are getting winter depression and alcoholism. On the other hand, summer light is so abundant and full of high saturation colors that people find every possible way to enjoy the sunshine. This thesis proposes a housing paradigm for the North - nomads of light. Like a light machine, it captures sunlight atmosphere at different times of a day and different times of a year. At a community scale, different families live in a nomadic lifestyle to chase the precious sunshine. At a body scale, a person adjusts himself to chase the sunlight in one's own way. As an opportunity seeker, this housing model maximizes the pleasure of living in the North and creates geographical and cultural identity. by Hui Li. M. Arch. 2016-07-01T18:43:30Z 2016-07-01T18:43:30Z 2016 2016 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103474 952341859 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 107 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Architecture. Li, Hui, M. Arch. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Nomads of light : a housing paradigm for the North |
| title | Nomads of light : a housing paradigm for the North |
| title_full | Nomads of light : a housing paradigm for the North |
| title_fullStr | Nomads of light : a housing paradigm for the North |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nomads of light : a housing paradigm for the North |
| title_short | Nomads of light : a housing paradigm for the North |
| title_sort | nomads of light a housing paradigm for the north |
| topic | Architecture. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103474 |
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