bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Living with diversity in Jane-Finch
Authors: Ahmadi Donya 
Published: November 2023

In the past decades, diversity has become a popular catchphrase in theoretical, policy and public discourses in Canadian cities. Toronto is Canada’s most diverse city, wherein a long-standing immigration history coupled by the introduction of the Canadian Multiculturalism policy in the 1970s have rendered diversity a prominent value for the city’s inhabitants (Ahmadi and Tasan-Kok, 2014). Celebration of diversity has become a popular theme in Toronto’s policy and image making, such that many policy documents have proclaimed diversity as the city’s biggest strength. However, while the celebration of diversity has attracted funds and services to inner city Toronto, stereotyping based on different categories of diversity (particularly ethnicity and class) has resulted in the stigmatization and criminalization of poor racialised neighbourhoods located at the edges of the city.

Diversity in urban areas may derive from multiple factors such as behaviour, lifestyles, activities, ethnicity, age, gender and sexuality profiles, entitlements and restrictions of rights, labour market experiences, and patterns of spatial distribution. Research on diversity in the past decades has resulted in the creation of an extensive body of work on the notion. However, there are a few gaps in theory which the present study seeks to address, namely: (a) Research on diversity often overlooks the complexity and dynamic nature of diversity and maintains an overemphasis on ethnicity. (b) Despite plentiful evidence for the diversification of peripheral neighbourhoods, the available body of research focuses primarily on inner-city areas, leaving out the more remote rural and suburban areas (Humphris, 2014). (c) There is a tendency to present a ‘flat’ or ‘horizontal’ type of differentiation of diversity, which does not account for the various positions and hierarchies within and between different categories of difference.

In light of these gaps, this study seeks to add to our understanding of urban diversity, as perceived and experienced by those who inhabit, frequent and govern urban areas. It answers the following primary research question: How is diversity experienced at the neighbourhood level, as (a) discourse, (b) social reality, and (c) practice? Diversity as discourse refers to the public narratives around diversity, while diversity as social reality concerns the descriptive characteristics that render an area diverse. Diversity as practice refers to policies, programs and local practices that aim towards managing diversity (see also Berg and Sigona, 2013). The research question is investigated in four interconnected chapters, which engage with the three formerly mentioned dimensions to various degrees. The study further makes use of a variety of qualitative and participatory techniques (i.e. qualitative interviews, roundtable talks, participant observations, and focus groups) to gather rigorous empirical data on living with and managing diversity in an inner-suburban neighbourhood of Toronto, namely Jane-Finch.
Temperate Climate
Authors: Raji Babak , Tenpierik Martin J. , van den Dobbelsteen Andy 
Published: November 2023

The building envelope is the interface between the interior of the building and the outdoor environment. A building’s energy consumption to a large extent depends on certain envelope design elements. As a consequence, for achieving high levels of energysaving in buildings, design measures with high impact should be firstly defined and then optimised. This paper aims at finding energy-saving solutions for the envelope design of high-rise office buildings in temperate climates. For this purpose, an existing tall office building is selected as a typical high-rise design in the Netherlands and the energy use prior and after refurbishment is compared through computer simulations with DesignBuilder. A sensitivity analysis in line with a large number of energy performance simulations showed which building envelope parameters have a significant impact on the building’s energy consumption; hence need more consideration for improvement. The four measures selected for uplifting the energy performance of the building envelope include glazing type, window-to-wall ratio, sun shading and roof strategies. By taking the base case as a reference and optimising one parameter at each step, this study resulted in a high-performance envelope design that offers a considerable energy-saving by around 42% for total energy use, 64% for heating and 34% for electric lighting.
From Dispersed Urban Areas to Territories- in-between
Authors: Wandl Alexander 
Published: November 2023

The dissertation began with the observation that there is an increasing body of literature suggesting that the conventional idea of a gradual transition in spatial structure from urban to rural does not properly reflect contemporary patterns of urban development and their potential for sustainable development. Furthermore, it was argued that large parts of the urbanised areas of Europe are dispersed and that these are neglected in urban and spatial planning policies. Such areas tend to be labelled simply as sprawl, though there is little evidence about whether such dispersed development is more or less sustainable than other forms of urban development. Moreover, evidence points in the direction that large amounts of dispersed urban development ask for different planning instruments which reflect the complexity and network structure of theses specific settlement patterns.

At the turn of the millennium and across Europe, concepts describing dispersed urban areas, like Zwischenstadt, città diffusa or tussenland gained some attention. They share an understanding of design and planning for the territory based on seeing the ‘urban landscape as a large interlocking system rather than as a set of discrete cities surrounded by countryside’ (Bruegmann, 2005). Nevertheless, none of the concepts influenced mainstream planning policy beyond a few individual plans and projects.

To summarise, there is a limited understanding of the nature of dispersed urban development, uncertainty about how the sustainability of such areas can be assessed, and few policy instruments that would achieve any sustainability potential they offer.

The dissertation sets out to contribute to an improved understanding of these issues by answering the following three research questions.

1. What spatial structures characterise dispersed urban areas in Europe?

2. Which morphological and functional structures of dispersed urban areas offer the potential for more sustainable development? If so, how can this potential be mapped and measured to inform regional planning and design?

3. Are there similarities and dissimilarities concerning potentials of dispersed urban areas in different locations, planning cultures, topographies and histories?
A Pattern Language of Self Construction
Authors: Cavalcanti Ana Rosa Chagas 
Published: November 2023

Labor in favelas was not acknowledged by architects and planners because of the interpretation of the definition of the informal settlement and the slum. Also, by architectural practice and parochial theories, which affect the production of planners and architects. The definition of slums as spaces lacking sanitation and infrastructural components is deeply rooted in both theoretical and institutional definitions of the informal settlement. Nevertheless, the spaces of slums and informal settlements are much more complex and include social-economic aspects of everyday life of its inhabitants. Interpretative tools and intellectual frames are needed to open new perspectives and epistemologies in the field of architecture that are capable to address the needs of únderpriviledged people. This is the ethos of the methodology designed to study informal settlements in the present study.

The finding that work is a fundamental element shaping space dynamics of informal settlement is based on an ethnographic research. To investigate how the social actions of the inhabitants shape them, methodological tools of anthropology (such as ethnography, interviews, oral history) rooted in De Certeau (and participatory research) were combined to the methodology of the Pattern Language (and with methodological tools of architecture such as drawing) to highlight the importance of social practices as shapers of space in in contexts in which the socio-spatial dynamics are not familiar to architects and planners, such as informal settlements.

This methodology is underpinned by architectural imagination and intellectual reflection. It is the architectural imagination that allow architects and planners to create instruments to understand and represent space and new interpretative frames to study space. As for example, the perspective, which was invented when architects such as Bruneleschi experimented to draw over a mirror in a Plaza, in order to represent proportion, focal points and drain lines in the Renaissance Period.
Learning by building
Authors: Oikonomopoulou Faidra 
Published: November 2023

Continuing from the experimental validation of the adhesively bonded system, this chapter presents the main challenges confronted and records the innovative solutions implemented during the consecutive construction steps of the adhesivelybonded cast glass façade. These include the manufacturing and quality control of the bricks, the set-up of the construction site, the levelling of the reference supporting beam, the bonding method used and the fabrication and installation of customized elements such as the architraves, window and door frames and the intermixing zone of glass with terracotta bricks. The experimental work on prototype elements, described in Chapter 5, resulted into the use of a colourless, UV-curing adhesive of the Delo Photobond family for bonding the solid glass blocks together. The tests indicated as well that the desired monolithic structural performance of the glass masonry system and a homogeneous visual result can only be achieved when the selected adhesive is applied in a 0.2-0.3 mm thick layer. In accordance, the bricks have to meet a strict dimensional tolerance of ± 0.25 mm. On the facade as a whole, this means that the overall size deviations will be limited to a few mm. The nearly zero thickness of the adhesive together with the request for unimpeded transparency introduced numerous engineering puzzles, addressed in this chapter. The fundamental difference between conventional brickwork and the developed glass masonry system is that a standard mortar layer compensates for the size deviations of the bricks, while the selected adhesive cannot. This manifests the level of complexity introduced by the manual bonding and the significance of constantly controlling the entire construction with high precision methods. Based on the conclusions of the research and the technical experience gained by the realization of the project, recommendations are made on the further improvement of the presented glass masonry system for future applications.
Experimental and numerical investigation of an interlocking system out of osteomorphic cast glass components
Authors: Oikonomopoulou Faidra 
Published: November 2023

The previous chapter concluded that blocks following an osteomorphic geometry are the most promising in respect to the principles of interlocking and glass casting. Moreover, interlayers of the polyurethane (PU) family are considered the most suitable for a building application, without compromising the transparency of the resulting structure. Based on these findings, this chapter aims at investigating the structural behaviour of an interlocking assembly employing osteomorphic blocks and PU as an interlayer. Initially, experimental research is conducted in different PU interlayers available in the market, aiming on finding one that fulfils the established design criteria and mechanical properties, as discussed in chapter 7.6. Different readily available two-component PU interlayers, with a Shore Hardness ranging between 60A – 80A, are cast to follow the osteomorphic interlocking geometry and are tested under static compressive load between two half osteomorphic kiln-cast glass blocks in series of 3 specimens and in 2 different thicknesses (3mm and 6mm). The results suggest that the tearing strength of the interlayer is as important as its Shore Hardness; whereas the geometry of the interlocking form can further influence the overall resistance of the assembly against tearing. They also highlight that insufficient contact (mismatch) of the interlayer with the glass blocks, due to dimensional deviations, can lead to the eventual failure of the assembly even under static load due to peak stresses that are further increased by the lateral stresses occurring due to the creep of the interlayer. From the examined interlayers, PU with a shore hardness between 70A – 80A, are considered as the most suitable for the further experimental validation of the assembly. Following, to investigate the influence of the interlocking mechanism to the structural behaviour of the proposed Thus, to further explore the influence of the most crucial geometrical aspects of the interlocking mechanism, namely the height and amplitude of the glass components, to the overall structural performance under shear a numerical model65 is made. In accordance with the output of the experimental validation, here an osteomorphic block with multiple locks is tested, considering a 4 mm thick 70A PU interlayer. The results of the numerical model indicate that bricks of reduced height are more susceptible to failure by bending, whereas with taller brick variants shear lock failure is more critical. It is also confirmed that an increased amplitude of the interlock can be beneficial as it leads to an increased shear capacity and lower uplifting effects. It is also shown that specimens with increased height reach the failure stress limit with considerably smaller deformations, thus, requiring a higher manufacturing precision.
Urban Terrorism: St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City
Authors: Tan Daniel 
Published: November 2023

In the wake of the 2015 Paris attacks that claimed 130 lives, and in response to FBI warnings about threats by the Islamic State terrorist group, stringent security measures were pre-emptively imposed on St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City to deter possible attacks. The very nature of exclusion and control brought about by the securitisation corrodes the inherent nature of what the square previously symbolised: a sanctuary where all could enter and be welcome. Using the case of St. Peter’s Square, this work illuminates the three main contradictions between security and architecture apparent in practice today, as a way to understand the role of architecture in contributing to a convivial city under the conditions of terrorism.
'New Classical' Contemporary Architecture
Authors: Chabard Pierre 
Published: November 2023

Cet article s’attache à retracer la généalogie des idées portés par le réseau anglo-saxon d’architectes new classical qui partagent le souhait de renouer avec les traditions prémodernes et avec une « architecture classique », largement idéalisée et réinventée. Résonnant avec les arguments réactionnaires et identitaires de la droite populiste actuelle, cette doctrine architecturale s’est structurée au tournant des années 1980 au plus fort des débats autour du postmodernisme et s’est développée depuis lors, en dehors des scènes courantes de l’architecture contemporaine, à la faveur d’importants relais politiques (notamment, au Royaume Uni, celui du Prince de Galles) et de la structuration d’un cadre institutionnel et d’une commande spécifiques. Au-delà de leur positionnement stylistique, les protagonistes de cette new classical architecture revendiquent une volonté de revenir aux modes de construction artisanaux traditionnels et manifestent un certain rapport au temps résolument anti-historiciste qui rejoint ce que Zygmunt Bauman a appelé la retrotopia.
Re-Imagining a 'We' Beyond the Gathering of Reductions
Authors: Athanasiadou Lila , Klumbyte Goda , Rouvroy Antoinette 
Published: November 2023

In this article Lila Athanasiadou and Goda Klumbytė engage in a conversation with Antoinette Rouvroy to revisit Guattari’s "Three Ecologies" and discuss their dynamics in and for the digital age. While a lot of the discourses on algorithms and digital future invoke catastrophic imaginaries of totalizing control, this conversation works with a propositional format, teasing out affirmative politics by pointing to spaces of potentiality within the environmental, the social and the mental realm. Starting from the environmental ecology and thinking of data as a waste, Rouvroy discusses planetary exhaustion as the result of the depletion of natural resources, forced labour practices and the assumption that data hold the answers to the problems posed by global capital. Proposing a space for material experimentation, she speculates on the potential of emerging subjectivities that remain irreducible to data flows. Within social ecology, Rouvroy advocates for the urgency to center digital policy as the space in which the new forms of institutions emerge in order to reorient the power of computation towards the commons. Lastly, within the mental ecology, Rouvroy reconceptualizes the legal subject as a performance that operates within the proliferation of asignifying data signs, reimagining a “we” beyond the gathering of reductions.
Simondoniana
Authors: Kodalak Gokhan , Kousoulas Stavros 
Published: November 2023

Kodalak’s essay revisits Gilbert Simondon as a postwar philosopher, who formulated a new way of conceiving individual modalities—from crystals, technical objects and biological organisms to psychic phenomena and social collectives. Simondon’s metaphysical conception of ontogenesis—that explains how individuals emerge from a pre-individual field of metastable potentials through processes of individuation—helped him reconceive technical objects, no longer as passive automata, but as exuberant individuals, active and full of life, with irreducible modes of existence of their own. With this new vision, Simondon invites us to rethink our relationship with technical objects beyond the mythological attitudes of technocracy, technophilia, and technophobia, which can be further developed today for reconceiving architecture’s own technical modes of existence and charged relations with technology.

Kousoulas’ essay begs the question: Why Simondon in a volume dedicated to Stiegler? It is not that Stiegler’s oeuvre cannot be examined without referring to the crucial influence that Simondon had for his thought. More important than this, it is only through Simondon that Stiegler makes sense. Simondon is keen to remind us that sense, first and foremost, stands for directionality: to make sense is to grasp a direction. Without Simondon’s critical reformulation of our technological becoming, Stiegler’s project remains null. In a non-zero-sum game, Stiegler through Simondon and (retroactively) Simondon through Stiegler, produce the norms and values of a directing sense that can indeed compel us to engage in our worldly endeavours with neganthropic care.
Notes on Post-criticality: Towards an Architecture of Reflexive Modernisation
Authors: Cowherd Robert 
Published: November 2023

Since around 2002, the performance of critical theory in architecture and the humanities has itself undergone a critical re-evaluation. Authors representing divergent perspectives, from theory’s perennial naysayers to the standard bearers of critical theory themselves, have converged towards a similar conclusion: judged by outcomes, critical theory has proven ineffective at best, and arguably, corrosive to human progress. In architecture, the debate has revolved around the identification of a ‘critical architecture’ in education and production since the 1970s. In apparent rejection of the isolation and purity of critical architecture’s orthodoxy, Rem Koolhaas and others have chosen engagement with the forces (and commissions) of late capitalism to which the term ‘post-criticality’ has been applied.

Beyond the confining dichotomies of the post-criticality debate is a perspective offered by sociologists Ulrich Beck, Scott Lash and Anthony Giddens on what they have called a ‘second modernity’ or ‘reflexive modernisation’. This literature re-contextualises the modern-postmodern pairing within the larger trajectory of modernity and identifies a characteristic distinction from former modernities in the term ‘reflexivity’. Where high modernism pursued utopian ideals of pure form and functional simplicity, reflexive modernisation acknowledges contingency in human systems establishing feedback loops that trigger course corrections in the process of modernisation itself.

Operating against the ossifications of twentieth-century modernity, reflexivity opens prospects for a second modernisation characterised by a heightened capacity to deal with complexity and time. Speculative architectures of reflexive modernisation benefit from a re-engagement in real-world problems, particularly at the scale of the city. To what extent can considerations of political economy, culture, globalisation, and environmental crisis be translated into the explicit performance criteria and computational parameters? What role is there for tools forged in the fires of ‘critical architecture’ in the emerging architectural creativity increasingly characterised by complexity, provisional outcomes, and unpredictable form?
Independent or Bureaucratic? The Early Career Choice of an Architect at the Turn of the Twentieth Century in Germany, France and England
Authors: Gerber Andri 
Published: November 2023

While the general historical perception of the architect conveys an image of him/her as an independent ‘genius-artist’ we should not forget how, in particular around the turn of the twentieth century, architects were primarily employed by communal, or state administrations. The need for architects in administrations was primarily a consequence of the rising independence of cities and the necessity to react to urbanization and property speculation, and later for the mass housing programs in the aftermath of the First World War.

In this paper the professional reality of architects in three countries, Germany, France, and England will be addressed and the relationship of the profession to the administrations will be analyzed. This investigation looks at how architects perceived this relationship and the many advantages it gave them, as well as how their reaction against it was articulated and backed up. In each of these countries architects had a different disciplinary background; these differences will be compared and contrasted. This variance subsequently led to a different perception and attitude towards the relevant administrations. Yet, it ought to be added that no general rule can be extracted from these comparisons, as each architect had their own, unique career path.