A Shape Grammar for Hybridity: The Domestic Architecture of William Hajjar in State College, PA
The purpose of this study is to analyze William Hajjar’s single-family houses in State College, PA, home of The Pennsylvania State University’s main campus, by using shape grammar as a computational design methodology. Shape grammar is used to verify and describe the influence of European modern architecture and American traditional architecture on Hajjar’s domestic work. The analysis provides a foundation for developing a systematic methodology to analyze hybridity in architectural design. Hajjar, a member of the architecture faculty at The Pennsylvania State University (the Pennsylvania State College at the time) and a practitioner in State College, PA, was an influential figure in the history of architecture in the area.
The theoretical outcomes of this study answer these central questions in regard to the methodology and context: Can shape grammars be used to verify and describe the possible hybridity between modern and traditional architecture in Hajjar’s work? More broadly, can shape grammars be used to describe an architectural hybridity phenomenon in general?
Advisers/Committee
