Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-2007

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Architecture

Major

Architecture

Major Professor

T.K. Davis

Committee Members

Mark Schimmenti, William Martella

Abstract

In the article “Space and Anti-Space” Steven Kent Peterson states that:

…our objective (as architects) is an elaborate condition of spaces, a collision of inventions; not a neutral ground of anti-space but a plasma of spatial fields promoting multiple interactions, choices and opportunities.”

The article focuses on the separation of the two and promotes the exclusion of anti-space in favor of space. Therefore, it is the contention of this thesis that architects can, in fact, fuse the aspects of space and anti-space in order to create more meaningful places than either can do alone.

The vehicle chosen to explore this issue in contemporary Architecture is the Tony Sudekum low income housing development in Nashville, TN. The Sudekum development is a victim of an overabundance of anti-space and little or no discernible space, which detracts from the area’s spatial layering and texture. This study will overlay the principles of space and anti-space in an effort to analyze the aspect of place making in America’s Housing and Urban Development program, specifically the Hope VI Housing Program.

Mario Botta’s Residential Development in Turin will serve as an example of how the fusion of space and anti-space can serve to promote and enrich the spatial qualities needed in place making in contrast to space and anti-space alone. Proctor and Matthew’s Abode Housing Development in Newhall, Harlow, Essex, (England) will serve as a precedent that also combines space and antispace that is illustrative of what the Sudekum Development in Nashville could potentially be.

Download
Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Included in

Architecture Commons

Share

COinS