Search results

1 – 10 of over 1000
Per page
102050
Citations:
Loading...
Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 23 October 2007

Stephen Gage

Delight, and the possibility that an observer might continually delight in the same thing, is difficult to deal with in a rigorous way. Very little has been written recently about…

547

Abstract

Purpose

Delight, and the possibility that an observer might continually delight in the same thing, is difficult to deal with in a rigorous way. Very little has been written recently about this subject. The purpose of this paper is to offer insights about this vital subject with reference to design work being undertaken at UCL.

Design/methodology/approach

It is the contention of this paper that arguments taken from constructivism and second, order cybernetics can help in this. The cyberneticians who have most significantly dealt with cybernetics and physical architecture are Pask and Glanville. They offer significantly different and contradictory insights. Techniques for conceptualising an interactive performative architecture are discussed, based on work undertaken with postgraduate students at the Bartlett Interactive Architecture Workshop, UCL.

Findings

Glanville and Pask can be reconciled. When physical architecture can be considered as contributing to physical performance both sets of insights can exist in a common theoretical frame.

Practical implications

Designers should consider creating work that contains rich variety and the cues for observer construction, while also offering the possibility of ambiguity where different distinctions are equally possible. It is possible to utilise the differences that arise from changes in the external environment to manipulate the latter.

Originality/value

The paper suggests ways of creating places that offer continual delight to their observers.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 36 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 23 October 2007

60

Abstract

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 36 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 1 July 2001

Peter Cook

This is a short tribute statement about that extraordinary man, Gordon Pask, and his stimulating influence on architecture.

238

Abstract

This is a short tribute statement about that extraordinary man, Gordon Pask, and his stimulating influence on architecture.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 30 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 1 January 2006

Alex M. Andrew

573

Abstract

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 35 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 23 October 2007

Ranulph Glanville

The purpose of this paper is to explore the two subjects, cybernetics and design, in order to establish and demonstrate a relationship between them. It is held that the two…

1581

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the two subjects, cybernetics and design, in order to establish and demonstrate a relationship between them. It is held that the two subjects can be considered complementary arms of each other.

Design/methodology/approach

The two subjects are each characterised so that the author's interpretation is explicit and those who know one subject but not the other are briefed. Cybernetics is examined in terms of both classical (first‐order) cybernetics, and the more consistent second‐order cybernetics, which is the cybernetics used in this argument. The paper develops by a comparative analysis of the two subjects, and exploring analogies between the two at several levels.

Findings

A design approach is characterised and validated, and contrasted with a scientific approach. The analogies that are proposed are shown to hold. Cybernetics is presented as theory for design, design as cybernetics in practice. Consequent findings, for instance that both cybernetics and design imply the same ethical qualities, are presented.

Research limitations/implications

The research implications of the paper are that, where research involves design, the criteria against which it can be judged are far more Popperian than might be imagined. Such research will satisfy the condition of adequacy, rather than correctness. A secondary outcome concerning research is that, whereas science is concerned with what is (characterised through the development of knowledge of (what is)), design (and by implication other subjects primarily concerned with action) is concerned with knowledge for acting.

Practical implications

The theoretical validity of second‐order cybernetics is used to justify and give proper place to design as an activity. Thus, the approach designers use is validated as complementary to, and placed on an equal par with, other approaches. This brings design, as an approach, into the realm of the acceptable. The criteria for the assessment of design work are shown to be different from those appropriate in other, more traditionally acceptable approaches.

Originality/value

For approximately 40 years, there have been claims that cybernetics and design share much in common. This was originally expressed through communication criteria, and by the use of classical cybernetic approaches as methods for use in designing. This paper argues a much closer relationship between cybernetics and design, through consideration of developments in cybernetics not available 40 years ago (second‐order cybernetics) and through examining the activity at the heart of the design act, whereas many earlier attempts have been concerned with research that is much more about assessment, prescription and proscription.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 36 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 23 October 2007

Peg Rawes

The purpose of this paper is to examine shared principles of “irreducibility” or “undecidability” in second‐order cybernetics, architectural design processes and Leibniz's…

1162

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine shared principles of “irreducibility” or “undecidability” in second‐order cybernetics, architectural design processes and Leibniz's geometric philosophy. It argues that each discipline constructs relationships, particularly spatio‐temporal relationships, according to these terms.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is organized into two parts and uses architectural criticism and philosophical analysis. The first part examines how second‐order cybernetics and post‐structuralist architectural design processes share these principles. Drawing from von Foerster's theory of the “observing observer” it analyses the self‐reflexive and self‐referential modes of production that construct a collaborative architectural design project. Part two examines the terms in relation to Leibniz's account of the “Monad”. Briefly, developing the discussion through Kant's theory of aesthetics, it shows that Leibniz provides a “prototype” of undecidable spatial relations that are also present in architectural design and second‐order cybernetics.

Findings

The paper demonstrates that second‐order cybernetics, architectural design and metaphysical philosophy enable interdisciplinary understandings of “undecidability”.

Practical implications

The paper seeks to improve understanding of the geometric processes that construct architectural design.

Originality/value

The paper explores interdisciplinary connections between the disciplines, opening up potential routes for further examination. Its analysis of the aesthetic and geometric value of the Monad (rather than its perspectival value) provides a particularly relevant link for discussing the aesthetic production and experience of spatial relations in second‐order cybernetics and contemporary architectural design.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 36 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 1 March 2016

Yonghua Zou

Over the past three decade, China has established a housing finance system that borrows from the collective experiences of advanced economies. After examining the evolution of…

76

Abstract

Over the past three decade, China has established a housing finance system that borrows from the collective experiences of advanced economies. After examining the evolution of China’s housing finance system, the paper focuses on analyzing its challenges and recent changes. The paper argues that China’s highly-centralized financial system prefers financial stability but neglects financial liberalization, and then resulted in severe financial repression, which hurts the efficiency and equality of the housing finance service. After recovering from the 2008 financial crisis via high-cost financial intervention, China took some policy innovations to promote a decentralized finance mechanism, expand finance resources, and support affordable housing financing, through which China hopes to provide a more stable, affordable, and equal housing finance service to help more households own homes.

Details

Open House International, vol. 41 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 8 March 2011

Thomas J. Spradlin, Ramana V. Grandhi and Kristina Langer

The purpose of this paper is to develop and implement a structural fatigue life estimation framework that includes laser‐peened (LP) residual stresses and then experimentally…

575

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop and implement a structural fatigue life estimation framework that includes laser‐peened (LP) residual stresses and then experimentally validates these fatigue life estimations.

Design/methodology/approach

A three‐dimensional finite element analysis of an Al 7075‐O three‐point bending coupon being LP was created and used to estimate the fatigue life when loaded. Fatigue tests were conducted to validate these estimations.

Findings

The framework developed for fatigue life estimation of LP‐processed coupons yielded estimates with goodness‐of‐fit between the log‐transformed experimental and analytical data of R2=0.97 for the baseline coupons and R2=0.94 for the LP‐processed coupons.

Research limitations/implications

Approximated ε‐life fatigue parameters were used to calculate the fatigue life resulting from the complex residual stress fields due to the simulated LP process.

Originality/value

A fatigue life estimation framework that considers LP residual stress fields has been developed for use on structural components.

Details

International Journal of Structural Integrity, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-9864

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Book part
Publication date: 26 September 2022

Nicholas A. Gage

A confluence of events has created an opportunity to rethink special education, including the lingering effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic, advances in technology, and…

Abstract

A confluence of events has created an opportunity to rethink special education, including the lingering effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic, advances in technology, and changes in how special education is conceptualized and delivered. In this chapter, I discuss each of these in turn and then describe three possible futures for special education: maintain the status quo, revolutionize and revitalize special education, or abandon special education completely. The possibilities and implication of these alterative futures for students with disabilities are then considered.

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 1 March 1998

Robin Stryker

Introduces a special issue on globalization and the welfare state. Asserts that economic globalization constrains national economic and social policy far more now than ever…

6072

Abstract

Introduces a special issue on globalization and the welfare state. Asserts that economic globalization constrains national economic and social policy far more now than ever before, although the level of international trade has not increased that much compared to levels at the beginning of this century. Talks about the political consequences of economic globalization, particularly welfare state retrenchment in the advanced capitalist world. Outlines the papers included in this issue – comparing welfare system changes in Sweden, the UK and the USA; urban bias in state policy‐making in Mexico; and the developing of the Israeli welfare state. Concludes that economic globalization has a limited effect in shaping social welfare policy in advanced capitalist countries; nevertheless, recommends further research into which aspects of economic globalization shape social welfare policy.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 18 no. 2/3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 1000
Per page
102050