Building,Thinking, and Politics: Mies,Heidegger, and the Nazis

The Djoser funerary complex was meant to be a house for a god and a metaphor for the sky. Today, it is usually understood that this original work of classical architecture is a vacant house of stone “from which the gods have fled.”

This difference does not have to be understood as a further sign of an irrecoverable loss of meaning. It is a historical doubling of meaning, or a duplicity. This article explores the duplicity of meaning of the Djoser complex by comparing references to architecture in the Pyramid Texts with texts of contemporary criticism, in particular, “The Pit and the Pyramid” by Jacques Derrida.     

Browsing, Bouncing, Murdering, and Mooring

This paper presents the theoretical context and results of an advanced research seminar, Visualizing Information in Space, Time, and Motion , that explores the production of space with respect to the spatial inhabitation of our built environment, strategies of representation, and the research, analysis, synthesis, and construction of notation communicating perceived aspects of space, time, and motion.     

山水城林，南京

仲德崐：《中外建渤杂志每一期围绕一个城市做一个主题,以座谈的形式谈论城市、谈论建筑、谈论文化,我是受杂志社的委托来召开这次关于我们南京城市的论坛。今天我们论坛的主题是“山水城林,南京论建”,“建”非宝剑的“剑”,而是建设的“建”,如果是宝剑的“剑”,那么就有武林大会的意思了。我们请了南京各领域的专家,有规划方面、建筑方面、风景园林方面,还有一些不可缺少的文化人。我始终有一个观点,认为一个城市的建设绝对不仅仅是建设一个物质环境,而是一个文化的氛围。我记得沙里宁曾经讲过一句话,“让我看看你的城市,我就知道这个城市的人民在追求着什么”。     

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?     

空间·感知·想象

<正>1入口:山与墙那日下午,在微园的对谈,李兴钢议及微园的入口山面,语多赞誉,立面两幅山墙,在几组卧石之后,一高一低,一黑一白,李兴钢以为,卧石虽巨,尚不足以形成山势,背景中的黑白两幅坡顶山面,为微园的建筑外观,勾勒出城市视角的山形背景。沿着这条山墙如山的如画观法,我大致还能接续—葛明以青砖履面的山墙,高耸而色深,以粉壁而白的山面,低缓而色浅,葛明利用砖墙包裹的空腔,使得南部高深的山面,稍凸于北部的远白山面,若按从城市进入微园的常规视     

Landscapes, tourism, and conservation

One key aspect of global change is a decrease in ecological integrity as more and more landscapes are developed, leaving a mosaic of intact refuges and degraded patches that may not be sufficient for conserving biodiversity. While increases in human population and shifts in the distribution of people affect land use, the temporary movement of people can have major implications for conservation and biodiversity. Three examples are presented where recreation/tourism can enhance the conservation of land on a landscape scale, leading to habitat protection and biodiversity preservation: (1) Shorebirds often require a matrix of different habitat types during migratory stopovers, and ecotourism can serve as a catalyst for landscape scale protection of habitat. (2) Riparian habitats can serve as corridors to link diverse habitat patches, as well as serving as biodiversity hotspots. (3) Remediation and rehabilitation of contaminated lands, such as those of the US Department of Energy, aimed at developing recreational activities on the uncontaminated portions, can be the most economical form of re-development with no increase in human or ecological risk. Since large areas on many DOE sites have been undisturbed since the Second World War, when they were acquired, they contain unique or valuable ecosystems that serve an important role within their regional landscapes. In all three cases the judicious development of recreational/tourist interests can encourage both the conservation of habitats and the wise management of habitats on a landscape scale. While some species or habitats are too fragile for sustained tourism, many can be managed so that species, ecosystems and ecotourists flourish. By contributing to the economic base of regions, ecotourists/recreationists can influence the protection of land and biodiversity on a landscape scale, contributing to ecosystem management. The human dimensions of land preservation and biodiversity protection are key to long-term sustainability, and ecotourists/recreationists can be one management option.     

自然、保护与土地

半年前带学生苏州实习,有机会再次到城西北的虎丘,据说在远古时代原本是海湾中时隐时现的孤丘,称海涌山,经历代持久地营建而成名胜。过山门海涌流晖、大吴胜壤,经拥翠山庄、憨憨泉,过流纹岩的千人坐和白莲池,沿剑池风壑云泉上双井桥,到隐喻海浪如雪的雪浪亭后登顶见云岩寺塔,30 m高的小山竟迂回曲折,气象磅礴,穿越了春秋至今2000年的时光,让人由衷赞叹人工之美入天然的风景魅力。     

原型、场所、体验

景观原型代表着人类对自然最原始的情感,下意识地反映在人们的景观营建活动中,创造出各种景观类型。景观原型具有强大的审美感召力。认识场地的本质特征并以新的线索将其具体化,补充、调整要素,加强景观结构和自然特征,将其与受到广泛认同的景观原型和景观类型相关联,能够创造具有场所精神的景观空间。精心设计的观景点和游览路径,可以强化人们对景观的体验和感知,加深人与景观的共鸣。最后,以南宁园博园采石场花园为例说明基于原型、场所和体验的景观设计方法。     

Quantities and associations of lead, zinc, cadmium, manganese, chromium, nickel, vanadium, and copper in fresh Mississippi delta alluvium and New Orleans alluvial soils

The topic of this study is the effect of anthropogenic metals on the geochemical quality of urban soils. This is accomplished by comparing the metal contents and associations between two alluvial soils of the lower Mississippi River Delta, freshly deposited alluvial parent materials and alluvial soils collected from a nearby urban environment. Fresh alluvium samples (n = 97) were collected from the Bonnet Carré Spillway. The urban alluvial soil samples (n = 4026) were collected from New Orleans and stratified by census tracts (n = 286). The Spillway samples tend to have less Pb and Zn than generally noted for the baseline of natural soils. Except for Mn and V, Spillway alluvium contains significantly less metal than urban soils. For Spillway samples, the median metal content (in microg g(-1)) is 4.7 Pb, 11.1 Zn, 0.7 Cd, 164 Mn, 0.8 Cr, 3.9 Ni, 3.2 V, and 3.9 Cu. For urban soils, the median metal content (in microg g(-1)) is 120 Pb, 130 Zn, 3.2 Cd, 138 Mn, 2.1 Cr, 9.8 Ni, 3.8 V, and 12.7 Cu. Metal associations also differ between Spillway alluvium and urban alluvial soils. Fresh alluvium correlation coefficients between individual metals vary from 0.87 to 0.99 (P < 10(-13)) except for Cr which ranges from 0.57 to 0.68 (P < 10(-7)). The urban soil correlation coefficients for metals and the index value are 0.40-0.98. In urban soils, Pb, Zn, Cr, and Cu are dominant metals and highly associated, with a correlation coefficient ranging from 0.83 to 0.98 (P < 10(-25)). Their strong association justifies the use of GIS to map the integrated soil metal index (sum of the medians of metals by census tract) of New Orleans. Although also positively correlated (0.40-0.68, P < 10(-10)), Cd, Mn, Ni and V differ in their distribution in the city compared to Pb, Zn, Cr and Cu. Overall, significantly higher metal values occur in the inner city and lower values occur in outlying areas. The human health impact of the mixture of metals is not well understood. This study provides empirical data about the mixture and distribution of metals in New Orleans alluvial soils. Given common technical development, especially of traffic flows in cities, similar patterns of soil metals are expected for all US cities and probably international cities as well. Primary prevention of urban metal accumulations is necessary to enhance and sustain the development of urban culture.     

冲突·变化·共荣

~~冲突·变化·共荣@梁尚宇$华南农业大学林学院风景林系 @杜蔼恒$华南农业大学林学院风景林系 @郑晓谨$华南农业大学林学院风景林系     

Memories, Reflections, and Dreams

The author draws on his career by referring to (a) the type of knowledge which engineers acquire and lose over time, and (b) the importance of socio-economic and environmental aspects of civil engineering projects.
In Memories , he recalls particular incidents in thirty countries and being confronted by unfamiliar cultures, and follows two vital threads which are woven into his experience, namely human nature and mother nature.
Reflections , based upon adult education, reveal aspects of the psychological understanding of human nature and the importance of biological diversity. The author finds some areas of apparently unresolved conflict between civil engineering and the environment.
Finally, in Dreams , the author quotes a United Nations set of priorities which provide a satisfying guide to the broad view of world developments and which can help to show the importance of biological and cultural diversity.     

Bubonic plague,colonial ideologies,and urban planning policies: Dakar,Lagos, and Kumasi

The Third Plague Pandemic originated in Southwest China in the mid-nineteenth century, reached Africa's shores around 1900, and spread globally for about a century. This article examines three plague loci in colonial Senegal (Dakar, 1914), Nigeria (Lagos, 1924), and the Gold Coast (today's Ghana; Kumasi, 1924). A tripartite comparative analysis is made of French and British doctrines of colonial rule, colonial urban planning policies, and anti-plague practices. While some common features are demonstrated in the policies and practices of the colonizing forces such as the implementation of rigorous measures and embracing segregationist solutions, divergent features can also be distinguished. These relate to the methods of implementation of planning and anti-plague policies, in accordance with colonial ideology (assimilation, direct and indirect rule); and to the very nature of autochthonous communities, responses, and levels of agitation. Our both comparative and more nuanced site-related view is also based on a large collection of archival and secondary materials from multilateral channels.     

误差、准确度、精密度和不确定度的定义以及它们之间的关系

在产品质量检验的实际工作中,时常会遇到误差值、准确度、精确度和不确定度问题.特别是一次性的检验活动中,如食品、酒类样品的分析;建筑材料(水泥、砖、钢筋)的检验;轻纺产品的检测等等,都离不开这些定义的运用与归纳.因此,作为检验、检测的技术机构应充分掌握和理解它们之间的关系,并在实际检验工作中运用好准确度与误差值、精密度和不确定度之间的关系.对正确判定检验结论有很大的帮助.……     

Micro-fibre and ultra-micro-fibre cloths, their physical characteristics, cleaning effect, abrasion on surfaces, friction, and wear resistance

The properties of 12 micro-fibre cloths and two ultra-micro-fibre cloths were studied and compared with conventional cleaning methods. The cloths made from micro-fibre and ultra-micro-fibre had very good cleaning effect. Scrubbing Plexiglas caused pitting and scratch marks on the Plexiglas surface with the largest damage being caused in dry condition. All the cloths tested were wear resistant. Most of the cloths showed high friction against the surfaces in damp condition. Micro- and ultra-micro-fibre cloths are good alternatives to conventional methods for cleaning interior surfaces. Furthermore, good cleaning results can be achieved without any use of polluting cleaning chemicals.