Karen Lee Bar-Sinai, Tom Shaked and Aaron Sprecher
The purpose of the paper is to advance remote robotic fabrication through an iterative and pedagogical protocol for shaping architectural grounds. Advancements in autonomous…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to advance remote robotic fabrication through an iterative and pedagogical protocol for shaping architectural grounds. Advancements in autonomous robotic tools enable to reach increasingly larger scales of architectural and landscape construction and operate in remote and inaccessible sites. In parallel, the relation of architecture to its environment is significantly reconsidered, as the building industry's contribution to the environmental stress increases. In response, new practices emerge, addressing the reshaping and modulation of environments using digital tools. The context of extra-terrestrial architecture provides a ground for exploring these issues, as future practice in this domain relies on the use of remote autonomous means for repurposing local matter. As a result, the novelty in robotic construction laboratories is tied to innovation in architectural pedagogy.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper puts forth a pedagogical protocol and iterative framework for digital groundscaping using robotic tools. The framework is demonstrated through an intensive workshop led by the authors. To situate the discussion, digital groundscaping is linked to several conditions that characterize practice and relate to pedagogy. These conditions include the experimental dimension of knowledge in digital fabrication, the convergence of knowledge as part of the blur between the fields of architecture and landscape architecture and the bridging of heterogeneous knowledge sets (virtual and physical), which robotic fabrication on natural terrains entails.
Findings
The outcomes of the workshop indicate that iterative processes can assist in applying autonomous design protocols on remote grounds. The protocols were assessed in light of the roles of technological tools, design iterations and material agency in the robotic fabrication.
Originality/value
The paper concludes with observations linking the iterative protocol to new avenues in architectural pedagogy as means of advancing the capacity to digitally design, modulate and transform natural grounds.
Details
Keywords
Quality circles are organisational interventions that seek to increase an organisation's productivity and the quality of its products through direct employee participation. The…
Abstract
Quality circles are organisational interventions that seek to increase an organisation's productivity and the quality of its products through direct employee participation. The underlying assumption is that such participation will result in useful suggestions for improving work methods and quality, and for increasing employee commitment to implement these changes. Quality circles typically are small groups of volunteers from the same area who meet regularly, under the leadership of their supervisor, to identify, analyse and solve quality and related problems in their respective areas of responsibility.
Samer BuHamdan, Seyedmohammadamin Minayhashemi, Aladdin Alwisy and Ahmed Bouferguene
Researchers have not widely explored design-based factors that govern buildings’ physical properties and human–building interactions. This paper aims to understand the influence…
Abstract
Purpose
Researchers have not widely explored design-based factors that govern buildings’ physical properties and human–building interactions. This paper aims to understand the influence of design-related factors on the time-on-market (TOM) of listed houses and, consequently, study the effect of design features on the desirability of a given house.
Design/methodology/approach
This research analyzes a dataset of listed houses, provided by the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton (RAE) and covers a period extending from January 2009 to August 2019, using Cox proportional-hazards regression model to identify building features that influence people purchasing decisions.
Findings
The research findings affirm the statistical insignificance of the price on the TOM compared to other design features, such as the construction method, the installed mechanical systems and cladding materials.
Research limitations/implications
The data used in the analysis comes from a single North American region, i.e. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Also, the data provided by the RAE includes only records that involve a realtor.
Practical implications
The observations of the research presented in this paper influence the housing market players’ decisions about housing designs, mainly those concerned with building new residential dwellings such as speculative builders and designers.
Originality/value
The research novelty stems from two aspects: the medium used for analysis, i.e. Cox proportional-hazards regression model, which allows considering the listed-but-not-sold units and helps to eliminate the survivorship bias that leads to over-optimistic outcomes; and the assessment of design-related features which allows to understand people’s preferences in design alternatives.
Details
Keywords
I remember well my first conscious exchange with a Good Man. Tom was the best friend of a man I had been dating for several months, and a warm acquaintance—though hardly a…
Abstract
I remember well my first conscious exchange with a Good Man. Tom was the best friend of a man I had been dating for several months, and a warm acquaintance—though hardly a friend—of mine. I had asked him to meet me for coffee one day after a troubling incident with my lover when I feared he might hit me. While he had not, as I closed and locked the door behind him that night, I was shaken by the possibility. And I was also deeply in love. I called Tom for a “reality check,” to find out if he knew of any history of physical violence, and to seek his advice.
The purpose of this paper is to review the care management of a man with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) from a family member’s perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the care management of a man with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) from a family member’s perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides a case history of “Tom” both prior to his TBI and after.
Findings
Tom was the subject of a safeguarding adults case review in Somerset following his death in 2014. Ultimately the paper highlights the shortcomings and failures in the care Tom received by various organisations which ultimately contributed to his suicide.
Practical implications
The paper highlights the need for more effective communication between professionals managing the care of those with TBI. Furthermore, professionals need training in the need for mental capacity assessments and improved safeguarding and risk assessments with adults with TBI.
Originality/value
This paper provides insight into the needs of an adult with TBI from the perspective of a family member who is also a trained psychologist.
Details
Keywords
The presence of mature masculinity is slowly reshaping contemporary action cinema in the twenty-first century. It is a phenomenon that rejects the unrealistic view that action…
Abstract
The presence of mature masculinity is slowly reshaping contemporary action cinema in the twenty-first century. It is a phenomenon that rejects the unrealistic view that action heroes are embodiments of Apollo and Ares in human flesh. Instead, action heroes are viewed as flawed characters who cannot escape the realities of their corporeality, mortality and humanity. The following chapter is an examination of a particular type of action hero archetype that combines ageing with virtuous and mature masculinity. Here I use Tom Cruise's development and portrayal of Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible series as a lens through which to highlight the presence of the virtuous and mature hero archetype in action cinema.
Cruise's representation of heroic masculinity is significant because it achieves three separate goals. First, Cruise's mature masculinity repudiates the hardbody model by showing its deficiencies as a male archetype. Second, it introduces a version of an action hero that emphasises the benefits of ageing and mature masculinity. Lastly, Cruise's onscreen presence redoubles the idea that heroic masculinity is motivated by a deep sense of morality, duty and a desire to serve the greater good. As the model of the mature and virtuous hero becomes more prevalent, as I argue, it not only reshapes action cinema but also produces cinematic representations of heroic masculinity that are more positive in terms of showing the importance of maturity, virtue, and public service.
Details
Keywords
Since I got married and more or less settled down I seem to have more time for reading. Well that's natural isn't it ? I mean Nellie is reasonably broadminded when it comes to me…
Abstract
Since I got married and more or less settled down I seem to have more time for reading. Well that's natural isn't it ? I mean Nellie is reasonably broadminded when it comes to me popping out for a pint but it wouldn't be quite the thing for me to spend every evening of the week in the old “Tacklers Arms” would it ? Besides I don't live in Hindle Way now I'm married so it would be too far to go anyway.
The management of children′s literature is a search for value andsuitability. Effective policies in library and educational work arebased firmly on knowledge of materials, and on…
Abstract
The management of children′s literature is a search for value and suitability. Effective policies in library and educational work are based firmly on knowledge of materials, and on the bibliographical and critical frame within which the materials appear and might best be selected. Boundaries, like those between quality and popular books, and between children′s and adult materials, present important challenges for selection, and implicit in this process are professional acumen and judgement. Yet also there are attitudes and systems of values, which can powerfully influence selection on grounds of morality and good taste. To guard against undue subjectivity, the knowledge frame should acknowledge the relevance of social and experiential context for all reading materials, how readers think as well as how they read, and what explicit and implicit agendas the authors have. The good professional takes all these factors on board.