Combinatorial Possibilities and Enumerations for Housing Designs: Gregory Ain's Mar Vista Tract (1946-1948)

摘要

This article introduces a formal method with regard to point group symmetry in the analysis and construction of housing units and their arrangements. Gregory Ain's Mar Vista Tract is the focus of this study. In this paper guiding principles of Ain's housing unit layouts and their arrangements in a city block are examined with respect to the symmetry principle. With the same method, combinatorial possibilities of the units and their arrangements are tested and computed to see how many possible designs can be generated. Finally, streetscape perspectives are generated to illustrate how they would appear when new design features are added.