Design review in a post-colonial city: The Delhi Urban Art Commission

This study of the Delhi Urban Art Commission – a design review body in the post-colonial city of Delhi – explains its role and responsibilities, its effectiveness, and its impact on the built environment of Delhi. The study questions the effectiveness of the Commission. It asserts that the Commission is invaluable for Delhi as it is the only agency that has the knowledge and understanding of urban design, development, and the complexities of the post-colonial city as well as the statutory power to make a difference to Delhi’s built environment. An analysis of the Commission’s major recent decisions suggests three key reasons for its ineffectiveness: both public and private agencies regularly violate the Commission’s recommendations; it approves projects without sufficient scrutiny; and it fails to effectively use its suo motu studies. The study proposes measures to make it more accountable and transparent, and to free it from political interference to harness its full potential and restore its image and power as envisioned at its inception.     

Planning paradigm in the madina: order in randomness

The sustainability of the current madina – despite its physical decay – reveals hidden dynamic urban mechanisms that have proved its reliability. Far from falling in the Orientalist synthesized urban images, and their counterparts, the very Islamic constructed ones, this paper seeks instead to argue on the planned aspects of a madina. The concept of planning shall be revisited in order to discern its intrinsic urban order. This implies no analogy with the contemporary urban planning. Its planning observed legal, urban and social ideals, creating neither an absolute aestheticized physical form nor dictating a totalizing function. The review of the planning paradigm in the madina would provide a genuine meaning of its name that had been altered to médina – a colonial term referring to a stagnant walled entity. Arguably, without a sense of order and planning, the sewer would flood its alleys, potable water would never reach its fountains, and one would never escape its twisty roads. It would be absurd to view madina as being totally random, and to assume that it did not generate a level of a pre-meditated planning. This paper poses decisive questions about the relevance of the mad ina in the age of modern urbanism, and deduces urban lessons for contemporary planners.     

Kuwaiti architectural modernity: an unfinished project

This paper examines Kuwait's unfinished modern project, its architectural heritage, the actors that mobilised and decided its trajectory, and some of the factors that interrupted its path to completion. This broad critique, with a special focus on architecture and the city, draws from debates on top-down planning to map the evolution and initial celebration of al-`Imārah al-Hadītha, or modern architecture, followed by its slow erasure through acts of demolition. Focusing on the period from 1950 to 1980, this study provides a critical reading of Kuwaiti modern heritage and suggests a sustainable approach towards its conservation. The paper argues that the destruction of Kuwait's modern heritage erodes progressive socio-cultural values tied to a mid-twentieth century architectural debate on authenticity, identity and modern self-expression. It also contributes to architectural histories of modernity and bridges the gap between those in the established canon and ones outside its margins.     

The Tailored Home: Housebrand

Loraine Fowlow describes how in Calgary, Alberta, Canada's fifth biggest city, John Brown has established Housebrand, a practice that is notable both for its innovative approach to residential design and for its adeptness in understanding its client base and the particular context of the Calgary housing market. The company has masterfully matched its own skills and services to customer demand in a way that is almost unprecedented within the architectural profession. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is not a city of antiquity — it traces its roots back little more than 150 years; it is not a city of noteworthy traditions — its people are a people of tradition living in a city of the present; it is not a city that has been planned or executed with regard to any grand design — it is a city that grew pragmatically; it is not a city of great rulers who have had a significant impact on the world; it is neither the centre of an empire nor the seat of a significant government. It is a city of commerce, and it is commerce and trade that have necessitated its creation, dominated its growth, and with industry, shaped and defined it. To understand Hong Kong one must start with its economy. This article views the economy through two prisms: Hong Kong's impending transition to PR China and the dominance of land-use planning in the control of the city-state.     

低掺量建筑801胶改性水泥混凝土的性能研究

测定了不同胶灰比的建筑801胶改性水泥混凝土的物理力学性能,确定了其最佳胶灰比.掺入建筑801胶后,混凝土的抗折强度明显提高,弹性模量减小,变形能力增强,脆性降低,韧性增加,其力学性能得到了明显提高.     

An example to renovation–revitalization works in historical city centres: Kunduracılar Street/Trabzon-Turkey

Trabzon lies in the northeast of Turkey and its past goes as back as to the antique age. It is a multicultural city which hosted many civilizations throughout its history. Kundurac?lar Street is in the centre of the city of Trabzon and is a historical and important commercial axis and pedestrian-shopping centre. The buildings in this street contain a variety of building types which reflect the identity of the city. In a sense, these buildings are a mirror reflecting the multicultural structure that the city has had throughout its history. However, the cultural–historical entirety of this street has been under the effect of urban sprawl and visual pollution in recent years. By the time, the street loses its characteristics. This study is an attempt to solve such problems and aims at protecting the street through renovation–revitalization works, and to bring it back to the city and to the people of the city by improving the present conditions. This study is the first example of its kind in the region with its area along work of 1 km and with the wide participant model that it proposed. A renovation–revitalization work was carried out in the street under such titles as building façades, street ground, lighting, city furniture, green, etc., and the street was put in the use of the city and its people by improving its qualities. This study also planned and realized a new process for the city of Trabzon (a process of participation, sharing, and conscioussness).     

Extraordinary Performances at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Abstract

While the design tactics and systems of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies are well documented, its performance remains less explored. Based upon extended in situ observation, I present an account of the building in terms of its day-to-day performances as well as cumulative evidence of its performance over its forty-year history. Contrary to accounts that focus on the building's extraordinary qualities, this article argues that in the end, it is ordinary details and systems that engender its most consequential performances. Central to this account is an approach that integrates organizational, technical, and aesthetic performance parameters for a polyvalent understanding of performance in architecture.     

Continuity,Criticality, and Change

Abstract

This article reconsiders a joint seminar and studio that studied how an expanded vision of site and culture influences architectural production. The Barnes Foundation controversy provided a vehicle for this study. The Barnes is a private, world-renowned collection of art situated in an unlikely suburban Philadelphia neighborhood. Arguing that its current home was untenable, in 2002 the foundation announced plans to relocate—a move that runs counter to its founding charter, which bars any change to the collection, its content, or its location. Against a background of continued public protest and legal appeals, the Barnes decision prompts myriad vexing questions that are valuable for consideration in architectural education. Chief among these: is replication a valid, meaningful, or sufficient way to preserve cultural value, and if so, how?     

Bern's positioning strategies: Escaping the fate of a secondary capital city?

Bern is a classic example of a so-called secondary capital city, which is defined as a capital city that is not the primary economic center of its nation. Such capital cities feature a specific political economy characterized by a strong government presence in its regional economy and its local governance arrangements. Bern has been losing importance in the Swiss urban system over the past decades due to a stagnating economy, population decline and missed opportunities for regional cooperation. To re-position itself in the Swiss urban hierarchy, political leaders and policymakers established a non-profit organization called “Capital Region Switzerland” in 2010 arguing that a capital city should not be measured by economic success only, but by its function as a political center where political decisions are negotiated and implemented. This city profile analyses Bern's strategy and discusses its ambitions and limitations in the context of the city's history, socio-economic and political conditions. We conclude that Bern's positioning strategy has so far been a political success, yet that there are severe limitations regarding advancing economic development. As a result, this re-positioning strategy is not able to address the fundamental economic development challenges that Bern faces as a secondary capital city.     

Maringá: A British Garden City in the tropics

Maringá, located in southern Brazil, deserves to be studied because of its uniqueness. It is one of a few cities designed according to Garden City principles and developed by the British in Brazil as part of a regional network of cities connected by rail. The city also distinguishes itself from several other cities in Brazil because it is the seat of a metropolitan region that, despite having had the highest growth of all metropolitan regions in the state of Paraná in the 1990s, has managed to prevent informal settlements from developing within its boundaries. This profile describes the creation and growth of this young, mid-sized city, the design principles followed by its founders, and the political and socioeconomic reasons for its successful development. A critical evaluation of regional planning efforts and shortcomings of a Garden City-inspired design raises issues and describes challenges to be faced by Maringá in the near future. The article concludes that Maringá’s responses to these challenges will determine what kind of future the city will have. Ultimately, a concerted effort to keep its exceptional characteristics will need to be made if its citizens are to maintain the quality of life they have enjoyed during the first half-century of its existence.     

Preparation and properties of flame retardant high impact polystyrene

Flame retardant high impact polystyrene (HIPS) was prepared by melt blending HIPS with nano-modified aluminum trihydrate (nano-CG-ATH) and red phosphorus masterbatch (RPM). Styrene–butadiene–styrene (SBS) was used as a strengthener in this research. The effects of the nano-CG-ATH, RPM, and SBS on properties of HIPS composites were studied using mechanical and combustion tests, and thermogravimetric analysis. The morphologies of fracture surfaces and char layers were characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The HIPS/nano-CG-ATH/RPM (68/20/12) composite and its combustion residues at various temperatures were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra analysis. The results show that the UL-94 rating of the HIPS/nano-CG-ATH/RPM (68/20/12) composite reached V–0 and that its char layer after flame test was well-developed and robust, but that its impact performance was poor. The addition of the SBS improved its impact performance but did not influence its thermal and flame retardant properties, but lowered its tensile strength and flexural modulus to some extent. The FTIR spectra confirm that both P–O–P and P–O–C groups were present in the char.     

An Architecture of the Whole

Abstract

This article offers a history and theory of “whole design” as it emerged through countercultural ecology, by offering a critical reading of the Whole Earth Catalog and its affiliate publications, and correlating it with design projects and related philosophies from the 1960s to the present day. The article proposes that the Catalog was itself a sort of architecture, a colloquium connecting its participants to design and to the world at large. Despite its determinist, systems-based origins, the article suggests that whole design harbored an ideologically and aesthetically vibrant indeterminism of continuing relevance to sustainability.     

小径分岔 ① 的花园：园林经验的歧路

通过分析博尔赫斯的同名小说,讨论了中国园林研究的字面含义和它潜藏的文化意义之间可能的错歧。这种"分岔"并非意外,而是设计意图和事后使用研究本身的错歧,对园林的错解,也就是园林作为一种意义生成场域的题中之义。真实存在的园林既存在着设计和理解的内部"分岔",也会因为时间历久带来对于过去的误会。与其说,面对园林总能收获整体和浑然的世界经验,不如说,步入园林的时刻也必将承受其局部和片段,因不同组织方式和分歧的事后认知将带来多种阐释,这种多样性有可能导致混乱和迷失。然而,分岔同时意味着交叉,在不断的分岔和交叉交替中也带来园林意义永续的可能。     

Ashmolean Museum,Oxford

In November 2009, the Ashmolean Museum opened a new extension that doubled its gallery space on its existing city centre site. Howard Watson looks at how the redevelopment of the museum has been to its benefit curatorially, optimising the display space available for its extensive collections, but also enabling new connections to be made between artefacts in a way that fully tells the stories of civilisations across the globe. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimating a project's profitability: A longitudinal approach

Forecasting a project's financial performance is central to aligning its operations with its strategic direction. Despite the panoply of approaches to predicting project performance, most studies focus on predicting the working capital and fixed capital requirements of projects. Few focus on forecasting profitability in the capital project industry. Thus, this longitudinal study of 121 capital projects identifies key variables in project initiation and planning phases that affect the profitability (return on sales) of completed projects. Subsequent multivariate robust regression analysis shows that the natural logarithm-transformed Scope and Team variables best explain the variation in profitability. The results show that the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) value in the optimal forecasting model is 17.91%. Ultimately, our findings suggest that it is feasible to estimate a project's profitability before its execution.     

On the measurement of comparative advantage

This paper shows that the standard measure of revealed comparative advantage (RCA), ranging from 0 to ∞, has problematic properties. Due to its multiplicative specification, it has a moving mean larger than its expected value of 1, while its distribution strongly depends on the number of countries and industries. These properties make its outcomes incomparable across time and place and its economic interpretation problematic. We propose an alternative measure, the additive RCA, ranging from −1 to +1, with a symmetric distribution that centers on a stable mean of zero, independent of the classifications used. Statistical tests show the distribution of the additive index to be more stable. Besides, we propose an aggregate RCA, a regional specialization index, ranging from 0 for pure intra-industry trade to 1 for pure inter-industry trade. The same conclusions and proposals hold for the multiplicative location quotient (LQ), which is used as a measure for the revealed locational attractiveness of certain regions or countries for certain types of industry.

生活的城市

通过笔者十几年来对城市生活的亲身体验和感受 ,观察和研究 ,论述了我国一些城市的得与失 ,以及所得到的启示 ,从而提出“生活的城市”这一概念。认为一个“生活的城市”必须满足以下四方面的要求 :(1)生活的城市是适宜步行的城市 ,是步行者的天堂。 (2 )生活的城市是可以把城市外部空间当作客厅的城市。而城市广场则是一个城市最好的客厅之一。 (3)生活的城市是能提供安全 ,健康保障的城市。(4)生活的城市是生态的城市。     

Towards a rationally based elastic-plastic shell buckling design methodology

The ‘reduced stiffness method’ for the analysis of shell buckling was developed to overcome a trend towards increasingly sophisticated analysis that has become divorced from its basically simple underlying physics. This paper outlines the developments of the reduced stiffness method from its origins in the late 1960s, through its experimental confirmation, generalisation and elaboration over the past 20 years, to its more recent consolidation using carefully controlled non-linear numerical experiments. It is suggested that the method has now reached a stage where it could profitably be adopted as a basis for an improved shell buckling design methodology.     

The Metabolism of the City: The Mathematics of Networks and Urban Surfaces

How might we best track the accelerating demands of global urbanisation? Michael Weinstock, Director of Research and Development at the Architectural Association (AA) in London, proposes a mathematical approach to uncovering the dynamics of cities. He advocates a dual method that reveals any city's particular metabolism by simultaneously mapping its physical shape - its compactness and densities - and its flows of energy, information and materials. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.