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Biln, John Fitzsimons, Juan Kent 2009-06-04T06:42:49Z 2009-06-04T06:42:49Z 2000 Fitzsimons, Juan Kent. "On the social reception of material form and space, or, the SUV in the melee." (2000) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/17337">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/17337</a>. https://hdl.handle.net/1911/17337 RICE2695 THESIS ARCH. 2000 FITZSIMONS This thesis explores social representations in architecture that have been objectified by various discourses on space and human activity. Using the sport-utility vehicle (SUV) as a multifaceted object in which these representations are seen, the possibility that a single material environment can embody conflicting social roles is proposed. A trope---the melee---is introduced as a model for the reception of material form and space that is grounded in bodily experience tempered by memory and projection. Three 'tries' engage the SUV in the melee, placing its apparent fixed meanings in crisis. Formal analysis in each 'try' reveals the vehicle's various typological allusions to Land Rovers, station wagons and crew cab pickup trucks. The imagined ancestries of the SUV---rooted in conquest, domesticity, and labor---conflict with one another and with its real uses, rendering architectural and urban space unfamiliar. In this melee , the embodied mind poses itself against the fixed social representations of spatial discourse. 63 pp application/pdf reformatted digital eng Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder. American studies Geography Transportation Architecture Urban planning Regional planning On the social reception of material form and space, or, the SUV in the melee Thesis Text Thesis was rescanned at 24-bit color in 2020. PDF has been OCR’d and made accessible. Architecture Architecture Rice University Masters Master of Architecture taggedPDF open.access