Characteristics of versatile buildings

Thesis (M. Arch)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1983.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCHText on even numbered pages runs from back to front.Includes bibliographical references (p. 81).If a building is to maintain its life-long usefulness it must be possible to alter it to accommodate different programmatic demands. This thesis investigates the spatial and material character that facilitates this architectural accommodation of diversity and change: Framed New England houses are compared with contemporary office buildings for their adaptability. A program of office and residential space is presented for a small valley near Brownsville Vermont. A building type is planned for this context and inhabited several ways to test its capabilities.by Stephen N. Mahler.M.Arc