Urbanizing the American dream : symbiotic housing for Baltimore
Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2010.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2010
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/57863 |
| _version_ | 1811070939322908672 |
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| author | Gealy, Rachel (Rachel Katherine) |
| author2 | Kent Larson. |
| author_facet | Kent Larson. Gealy, Rachel (Rachel Katherine) |
| author_sort | Gealy, Rachel (Rachel Katherine) |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2010. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:44:04Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/57863 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:44:04Z |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/578632019-04-14T07:05:20Z Urbanizing the American dream : symbiotic housing for Baltimore Symbiotic housing for Baltimore Gealy, Rachel (Rachel Katherine) Kent Larson. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Architecture. Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2010. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-117). In the 1950s, the American dream of owning a suburban single family home was directed at one demographic, the nuclear family. America's resources seemed limitless: industry marketing and government policies encouraged over consumption and enabled middle class families to buy their own mass produced tract house on a plot of private land accessible only by car. The result was a landscape of sprawl and the draining of urban cores. Today, nearly sixty years later, attitudes toward how the middle class should live have shifted dramatically along with the make up of middle America itself, and the dream is no longer valid. The 21st century definition of the middle class has expanded to include unending variations of living groups which do not fit into the suburban mold. Further, our awareness of sustainability concerns drives us toward resource sharing and space exchange which is impossible to achieve in decentralized developments. Despite these issues however, housing for the middle class has changed very little. This thesis proposes an alternative dream, an urban one. The hypothesis: the conflict between how Americans want to live and what the urban environment has to offer can be resolved through a symbiotic relationship between three programs: long term family oriented housing, short term rental housing, and flexible education space. Decades of "dream" propaganda has left us with cultural attitudes which demand certain qualitative characteristics from housing, specifically access to light and air, privacy, safety, security. and permanence. (cont.) Also critical are rising concerns with living "green" and education opportunities for children. However, inner city Baltimore as an environment for family oriented housing is inhospitable to say the least, plagued by crime and lacking quality schools. In addition to these two real factors is the psychological dream, which is entrenched in our culture. This project explores how the design of symbiotic housing can attract middle class families back to the city, thus urbanizing the American Dream. by Rachel Gealy. M.Arch. 2010-08-31T16:14:44Z 2010-08-31T16:14:44Z 2010 2010 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/57863 613343285 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 117 p. application/pdf n-us-md Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Architecture. Gealy, Rachel (Rachel Katherine) Urbanizing the American dream : symbiotic housing for Baltimore |
| title | Urbanizing the American dream : symbiotic housing for Baltimore |
| title_full | Urbanizing the American dream : symbiotic housing for Baltimore |
| title_fullStr | Urbanizing the American dream : symbiotic housing for Baltimore |
| title_full_unstemmed | Urbanizing the American dream : symbiotic housing for Baltimore |
| title_short | Urbanizing the American dream : symbiotic housing for Baltimore |
| title_sort | urbanizing the american dream symbiotic housing for baltimore |
| topic | Architecture. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/57863 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gealyrachelrachelkatherine urbanizingtheamericandreamsymbiotichousingforbaltimore AT gealyrachelrachelkatherine symbiotichousingforbaltimore |