THE NORTH AMERICAN UNIVERSITY CAMPUS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY - extended abstract

Oct 3, 2026

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Thesis extended abstract examining North American university campuses during the first half of the 20th century through urban and architectonic morphology. The study compares three case sites—MIT (Cambridge, 1916), Florida Southern College (Lakeland, 1922), and Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago, 1943)—using morphological analysis grounded in Space Syntax Theory. Development includes bibliographic research, variable identification, morphological analysis, and interpretation with contextualization of campus history, typologies, and relationships to city structure.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Context

Case Studies

THE NORTH AMERICAN UNIVERSITY CAMPUS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 2OTH CENTURY ANA CATARINA AMARO SEABRA DOS SANTOS Thesis to obtain the Master of Science Degree in ARCHITECTURE - EXTENDED ABSTRACT SUPERVISOR: Professor Teresa Frederica Tojal de Valsassina Heitor EXAMINATION COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON: Professor Maria Alexandra de Lacerda Nave Alegre SUPERVISOR: Professor Teresa Frederica Tojal de Valsassina Heitor MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE: Professor Jorge Manuel Gonçalves JUNE 2016 ANA CATARINA SEABRA 1. INTRODUCTION The subject of the present work is the North American university campus in the first half of the 20th century. Its goal is to study the different campuses by their urban and architectonic morphology and their inclusion in the city, highlighting the various strategies regarding the production and occupational processes. The analysis was based on three case studies: 1) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1916); 2) Florida Southern College (FSC) in Lakeland, Florida (1922) and 3) Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago, Illinois (1943) . These particular cases were selected for their relevance in terms of regional development model (master plan) and architecture of its buildings. Another important aspect for this choice was based on the production and transformation processes as well asthe approaches of the campus, i.e. how they evolved, in an urban and architectural point of view, since the first master plan to the present day. The studied campuses’ formation and evolution processes and their integration in the city were established using morphological analysis methods and tools , mainly the Space Syntax Theory (created by Hillier and Hanson in 1984) . The dissertation was developed in four stages: 1) bibliographic research and gathering of information; 2) variable identification; 3) morphological analysis and 4) interpretation and comparison of the results. The work development is divided in two main moments. The first one (Context) covers the study contextualization, i.e. the history and evolution of the American university campus. The second one (Case Studies and Space Syntax) comprehends the analysis of the actual case studies , in terms of morphology and relationship with the city. Finally the three campuses were analyzed and studied in a comparative manner. Fig. 1. USA map with the location of the three campuses studied THE NORTH AMERICAN UNIVERSITY CAMPUS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY ANA CATARINA SEABRA 2. CONTEXT The term "campus" was first used in the end of the eighteenth century to describe the grounds of Princeton University. Until then "campus" maintained its Latin meaning , being used to refer to sports fields. According to Turner (1984; pp.4) the term gradually took on a broader meaning to designate the American university model , based on an independent territory and considered as an urban microcosm. Since the first American universities were founded on the outskirts of urban centers , the planning of universities in the USA has an independent history from rest of the world , evolving in their own ways and producing their own innovations. As a result , the American campus has been an architectural experiments’ laboratory. Three characterizing models of university campuses that have been adapted from proposals of Pablo Campos (2011) will be presented and explained. In terms of territory organization two main categories are considered: 1) peripheral: the campus is located outside the urban area of the city, having no relation to it; 2) Integrated: the campus is located within the city limits. This last category is divided into 2. 1) the campus concentrated/agglomerated on a specific area or 2.2.) The campus scattered/dispersed in the city. The concentrated subcategory also divides into: 2.1.1. permeable/extrovert (it’s designed in order to establish spatial relationships with the surrounding , without physical b

FAQs

What is the main research goal of the work?

To study different North American university campuses by analyzing their urban and architectonic morphology and how they relate to the surrounding city.

Which campuses are analyzed as case studies?

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, 1916), Florida Southern College (Lakeland, 1922), and Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago, 1943).

What methodology supports the morphological analysis?

Morphological analysis methods and tools, mainly Space Syntax Theory, are used to establish and evaluate formation, evolution, and city integration.

Oct 3, 2026

Upload by jay