The Affects of Realism: Or the Estrangement of the Background

Affect is not just about mood and fantasy; at its best, it is an aesthetic provocation that can generate a profound questioning of the nature of reality. The 19th-century Realist writers and artists understood this – and its political implications – well. After examining the theme with reference to the writings of an international array of cultural critics, architect Michael Young – cofounder with Kutan Ayata of the New York-based studio Young & Ayata – presents a project by his firm that is subtly designed to trigger affective sensations of defamiliarisation.     

A Sense of Purpose: Mathematics and Performance in Environmental Design

Mathematics in design is most often associated with its visual manifestation in geometrical surfaces and elements. The finely tuned ambient qualities of a space, necessary for environmental performance, may not be so apparent, but can involve the application of many branches of mathematics. Martha Tsigkari, Adam Davis and Francis Aish of Foster + Partners' Specialist Modelling Group bring this to the fore by describing how at Al Raha Beach development in Abu Dhabi and the City of Justice in Madrid environmental considerations were interpreted through analytical numerical data. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Museum Development in the Gulf: Narrative and Architecture

How might interpretations of the past be informing the culture of tomorrow? Sarina Wakefield , a specialist in heritage and museum development in the Middle East, provides an overview of the form and function of contemporary museums in Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In so doing, she explores how institutions are drawing on locally specific heritage and cultural objects to develop distinctive identities for an international audience.     

Recent Developments at Foster + Partners' Specialist Modelling Group

Established 15 years ago under the leadership of Hugh Whitehead, the Specialist Modelling Group (SMG) at Foster + Partners has an unrivalled reputation internationally as an in-house research group. It provides Fosters with expertise in computation, geometry and fabrication, as well as in environmental analysis and simulation. Xavier De Kestelier, co-head of SMG and partner at Foster + Partners, describes how the group has developed and expanded over the last few years, growing the range of its specialist knowledge that informs projects as diverse as the YachtPlus Boat Fleet (2009), Kuwait International Airport (2009-) and Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (2010).     

What is a City?

On the 75th anniversary of Lewis Mumford's rhetorical essay ‘What is a City?’, Austin Williams asks whether we risk defining cities out of existence. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Timing of petroleum generation and source maturity of selected wells in Abu Gharadig Basin,North Western Desert,Egypt

The timing of petroleum generation of source rocks is recognized to investigate the maturation level of the proven potential source formations for oil preservation dead lines, and predict the levels of thermal maturity of the studied sequences in terms of hydrocarbon generation and expulsion. For theses purposes four thermal burial history and maturity profiles were constructed of the Abu Gharaig-1 SW Umbaraka-1, GPZ-1, and GPX-1 wells. The results showed Abu Roash and Bahariya formations are immature to mature source rocks and have poor to fair potential to generate both oil and gas and still are within the early stage of hydrocarbon generation till the present time. Alam El Bueib and Masajid formations bear mature source rocks and have good generating capability for generating both oil and gas and entered the oil window since Cretaceous to Miocene times and lies within oil and gas windows at present time. Khatatba Formation bears a mature source rock and has good generating capability for both oil and gas and entered the oil window during Late Cretaceous to Eocene times.     

CRETACEOUS – NEOGENE STRUCTURAL EVOLUTION OF SE ABU DHABI,UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Regional 2D seismic profiles and 2D cross‐sections extracted from high‐resolution 3D seismic data were interpreted together with well data to reconstruct the sequence stratigraphy of the Late Cretaceous – Miocene sedimentary succession in SE Abu Dhabi. This region is a major hydrocarbon province with numerous giant oilfields producing from large‐scale anticlines. The paper focusses on the structural development of the Sahil, Asab and Shah fields. Six sequence boundaries within the Aptian to Miocene succession were identified on the basis of erosional truncations and onlap patterns. The deepest‐lying erosional surface is the top‐Albian sequence boundary. This was identified by angular truncation of the Nahr Umr Formation in the SE of the study area near an uplifted domal structure which hosts the Mender and nearby Lekhwair fields. The unconformity is interpreted to result from reactivation of the basement together with a eustatic fall in sea‐level which resulted in regional uplift and erosion. A second phase of uplift occurred during the mid‐Turonian and resulted in significant erosion of the Shilaif Formation along structural highs. The top‐ Shilaif Formation unconformity forms a sequence boundary and is observed at the Shah, Zararrah and Sahil anticlines. The unconformity is coeval with the onset of obduction of the Semail Ophiolite onto the Arabian margin, and the associated flexural bulge probably resulted in structural uplift and reactivation of basement structures. A global sea‐level fall is also reported during middle Turonian time. The third sequence boundary occurs in the lower Campanian as an angular unconformity surface between the Halul and Fiqa Formations. This event is most obvious along the Shah and Zararrah anticlines and is interpreted to have occurred as a result of flexural uplift related to a further episode of obduction of the Semail Ophiolite. The fourth sequence boundary occurs in the Campanian – Maastrichtian and was identified by angular truncations of the Fiqa Formation against the Simsima Formation, an event which caused widespread erosion of a significant portion of the Fiqa Formation. This tectonic activity was most likely controlled by the final emplacement of the Semail Ophiolite, and probable reactivation of basement faults. The Simsima Formation is bounded above by the fifth sequence boundary, which coincides with the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary and which is associated with the final stages of Late Cretaceous tectonic activity. The final sequence boundary is the supra‐Dammam unconformity, which resulted in a peneplain surface associated with widespread erosion and an extended hiatus. Major trap formation in the study area occurred from the Cenomanian to the Maastrichtian, and coincided with obduction‐related emplacement of allochthonous thrust sheets onto the plate margin in Oman. However, the structural growth history of the Shah, Asab and Sahil anticlines suggest multiple episodes of uplift. Growth of the Shah anticline was initiated during deposition of the Shilaif Formation in Cenomanian – early Turonian times, but neither the Asab nor Sahil anticlines show significant growth or faulting older than Campanian. In all the anticlines, the most pronounced tectonic activity observed was in the Campanian during deposition of the Fiqa Formation. Significant growth of structures was completed by Paleocene time, suggesting that the Zagros orogeny had little structural influence in SE Abu Dhabi.     

School performance,social networking effects,and learning of school children: Evidence of reciprocal relationships in Abu Dhabi

This study uses structural equations modeling to test a hypothetical social network model with applications to a sample of 34,896 school children in Abu Dhabi. The main independent constructs in the model are related to children’s attitude with regard to social networking, reasons for using social networks, things done on social networks, and topics used. The dependent constructs cover perceived school performance and social effects of social networking. The study will describe the relations among the various constructs. The effect of other variables, such as parental knowhow, is also investigated. Our work has improved our insight in the social networking model. Results support the idea of reciprocal relations among perceived performance, learning from social networking, and the effect of social networking. Evidence for a model that includes opposite pathways implies that the problem of social networking constructs, its antecedents, and possible consequences should be examined with caution.